5.4 Accountability and Transparency

governance framework. This will include effective governance mechanisms for the ICO's freedom of information responsibilities.

Setting the Information Commissioner's salary

361. The current legislation requires Parliamentary approval to amend the Information Commissioner’s salary. Given the government’s planned changes to the ICO’s governance model, the provision for Parliament to set the chair’s salary would become an outlier compared to other regulators.

362. The government proposes to remove the requirement for Parliamentary approval and

allow the Secretary of State for DCMS to amend the Information Commissioner's salary

with approval from HM Treasury. Safeguards exist within this process and salaries over £150,000 are governed by HM Treasury’s Guidance for approval of senior pay, which sets out that sponsor departments must have regard to ensuring value for money and ensuring they can recruit, retain and motivate the best people.

The government welcomes views on the following questions:

Q5.3.5. To what extent do you agree that the salary for the Information Commissioner (i.e. the proposed chair of the ICO in the future governance model) should not require Parliamentary approval? ○ Strongly agree ○ Somewhat agree ○ Neither agree nor disagree ○ Somewhat disagree ○ Strongly disagree

Please explain your answer, and provide supporting evidence where possible.

5.4 Accountability and Transparency

363. The changes to the ICO’s statutory framework for objectives and duties, coupled with stronger governance mechanisms, as set out above, will improve the diversity, challenge and scrutiny of the ICO’s approach within the organisation itself. Furthermore the government intends to strengthen accountability and transparency mechanisms in order to aid external scrutiny of the ICO's performance.

364. The proposed accountability and transparency changes relate to the ICO’s entire remit. The government has taken into account the ICO's independence and regulatory oversight of the public sector when considering these changes in order to uphold the ICO's independence while ensuring it can be effectively held accountable for its activities.

New reporting requirements

365. The ICO is currently required to produce, lay before Parliament and publish a general report, including its annual report.97 However, as highlighted earlier in this chapter, there is a lack of clarity around the ICO’s strategic priorities in the current legislative framework, meaning there are no clear objectives for the ICO to measure its performance against and report on.

366. The government proposes to introduce a requirement for the ICO to develop and publish

comprehensive and meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) to underpin its annual

report. The KPIs and the annual report should be underpinned by robust monitoring and evaluation of the ICO’s activities.

367. In order to ensure Parliament and the government, regulated entities, the public and civil society hold the ICO to account effectively, it is important that various pieces of evidence and information are included in the KPIs and annual report as a basis for determining how effectively the ICO is discharging its functions. The intention is to enhance the regulator’s accountability by introducing defined reporting requirements, building on those already set out in law, such as the existing requirement on the ICO to provide guidance on how it exercises its enforcement function and penalties.98

368. The government is exploring whether to require mandatory reporting against the following:

a. The proposed new overarching objective(s)

b. The proposed growth and innovation duty, its competition duty and its duty to cooperate or consult with other regulators

c. The proposed international objective(s)

d. Its own objectives and goals as set out in its strategic documents

e. The proposed strategic statement of priorities

f. For investigations, the number of investigations undertaken, their nature, the time taken to complete the investigation and its outcome

369. Requiring the ICO to report how it is delivering against its objectives and duties will help to assure all interested parties that the ICO undertakes a robust approach to discharging its functions.

370. The ICO would continue to be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny via existing mechanisms, and the new overarching objective and duties would fall within the scope of the DCMS Select Committee, alongside the usual Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny processes.

371. In addition to the requirements to develop KPIs, the government is exploring whether to

mandate certain transparency requirements so that the ICO is required to publish the key

strategies and processes that guide its work. While a list in legislation is not envisaged, this requirement may cover documents that set out what the ICO does (i.e. its strategic plans and business plans) as well as how it carries out its functions (i.e. its Regulatory Policy Methodology Framework and its Regulatory Action Policy).

The government welcomes views on the following questions:

Q5.4.1. To what extent do you agree with the proposal to strengthen accountability mechanisms and improve transparency to aid external scrutiny of the ICO's performance? ○ Strongly agree ○ Somewhat agree ○ Neither agree nor disagree

○ Somewhat disagree ○ Strongly disagree

Please explain your answer, and provide supporting evidence where possible.

Q5.4.2. To what extent do you agree with the proposal to introduce a requirement for the ICO to develop and publish comprehensive and meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) to underpin its annual report? ○ Strongly agree ○ Somewhat agree ○ Neither agree nor disagree ○ Somewhat disagree ○ Strongly disagree

Please explain your answer, and provide supporting evidence where possible.

Q5.4.3. To what extent do you agree with the proposal to require the ICO to publish the key strategies and processes that guide its work? ○ Strongly agree ○ Somewhat agree ○ Neither agree nor disagree ○ Somewhat disagree ○ Strongly disagree

Please explain your answer, and provide supporting evidence where possible.

Q5.4.4. What, if any, further legislative or other measures with respect to reporting by the ICO would aid transparency and scrutiny of its performance? ○ Yes ○ No ○ Don’t know

Please explain your answer, and provide supporting evidence where possible.

Q5.4.5. Please share your views on any particular evidence or information the ICO ought to publish to form a strong basis for evaluating how it is discharging its functions, including with respect to its new duties outlined above.

Independent review

372. The reforms outlined above should drive considerable change in how the ICO monitors and reports on its activities. In certain circumstances, the government may wish to assess the ICO’s performance independently. Currently, the government can conduct reviews of the ICO with the