Ms Helen Dixon:

Going back five years we started from a very low base in building towards the GDPR and exploiting all the strong enforcement powers we have been given. We started with approximately 27 staff when I came on board at the end of 2014 and we now have over 140. The composition of the staff has changed significantly in that we have hired top class lawyers, litigators, technology experts and investigators. We are in a radically different position. We have just had the budget for 2020 announced last month. I made a submission on the resources I anticipated I would need in 2020 as part of that budgetary process. Ultimately, we secured significantly less than what we sought for 2020. However, we secured increased resources for next year that will allow me to recruit an additional 30 to 35 experts to the staff. I should say that in that context, even if 140 sounds like a relatively modest number, we are among the top tier of highly resourced data protection authorities both in the EU and globally.

I agree with the statement. We do not have enough and that is why we sought more. We see the scale of the challenge more clearly than anybody else can see it in terms of what we face. All of these hard enforcement cases we are trying to drive in the investigations we have open are extremely labour-intensive in terms of the process we must follow. I mentioned that we are being challenged and questioned at every turn. We need more resources and this must see continued investment as an area of regulation.