British Councils urge GDPR caution and request funding help

An organisation representing several of the UK’s local authorities has called on the government to make more of an effort to support councils when it comes to complying with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and its chair, Sue Baxter, has asked digital minister Matt Hancock to free up funding to allow councils to educate their employees on the regulation’s new requirements.

In a letter to the Conservative minister, Baxter highlighted her worries that complying with GDPR would prove a financial and logistical burden for local authorities.

London’s council’s have spent up to £300,000 each on software, training and consultants for the new regulation, according to data from think tank Parliament Street. Each is also required to appoint a data protection officer under GDPR.

The NALC predicts that in total, councils will be hit with costs “totalling at least £3.5 million a year”.

Baxter’s letter was sent to coincide with the reading of an updated Data Protection Bill in the Commons, which will contain the same provisions as GDPR following Brexit.

Though she writes that the NALC supports the principles set out in the updated Bill, Baxter also calls for “proportionate” new measures from the government and reiterates a need to fully understand the impact of GDPR on local authorities.

She added: “On a number of recent occasions, the government has acknowledged the very important services delivered by parish councils and their role in improving quality of life and wellbeing of communities.”

“It is therefore vital the government mitigates the financial impact of the Bill and GDPR on our councils, and ultimately residents in our communities, by providing new burdens funding. I have stressed to the government my keenness to work with them on this important issue.”