So Rishi Sunak is finally calling a General Election!
We know what you’re thinking! What will happen to the the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which was due to enter the Report stage in the House of Lords on 10th June?
We must admit we had to Google that one! To quote the Institute for Government:
“There are normally several days between an election being called and parliament being dissolved. During this period, parliament will continue until it is either dissolved or prorogued (and then dissolved) – whichever comes first. This period is known as ‘wash-up’.
Any parliamentary business not completed by the end of ‘wash-up’ will fall. This means any bills that have not already received Royal Assent will not enter into law and cannot be continued into the next parliament. This leads to a rush to rapidly pass legislation through parliament to get it onto the statute book, normally requiring cooperation between parties to agree which bills they will support through this expedited legislative process.
The length of ‘wash-up’ is decided by the prime minister and can vary. Since 1992, the longest wash-up period was in 2017, when parliament sat for a further seven days after the election was called.”
So, it could be that the Bill is passed during “wash-up” if the political parties agree; although they may have other Bills to pass as a priority.
If it does not pass during wash up, the next government could pick up the Bill (or a likely a new version), although it would have to start the full Parliamentary process again. Given the Labour Party did not propose substantial amendments to the current Bill, this is a possibility (assuming they win of course); though when this will happen is uncertain. DPOs will look forward to reading the parties’ General Election manifestos!
At the moment it seems that readers who have purchased the Act Now UK GDPR Handbook, will not need to buy a new version!
