Mr. Dale Sunderland:

I think that on balance, from where we stand, and obviously we are not really central to this, it is necessary for the reasons I have already outlined, in that there are huge complexities around this balancing of rights. From our perspective and from a data protection perspective, there is a lot of uncertainty and lack of clarity around what the right of access means in this specific context.

There is a choice when the Government proposes legislation and the Legislature ultimately enacts it. There is a choice not to have a Bill, of course, but from our perspective, it does provide further clarity and certainty around how personal data in the scenario which is the subject of the Bill is to be dealt with. It can be done in a way that is aligned with EU law and that ensures any restrictions meet the requirements of EU law in Article 23. It can also be done in a way that addresses the bigger context of the long-challenging issues around the constitutional requirements and judgments of the Supreme Court. The Bill tries to grapple with a very complex matter. The DPC is not saying that all of the policy choices and safeguards in the Bill are the right ones, but we acknowledge that they are seeking to address a complex issue, namely, the facilitation of the right of access to the fullest extent possible while taking account of the other issues that need to be taken into accountvis-à-visArticle 15.4 in particular, which I have referenced already.