In a written answer on 17 March 2020, the Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP confirmed that it is the Government’s intention to secure adequacy decisions, to allow for the continued free flow of data between the UK and the EU.
The full written answer can be seen below:
Data Protection: UK relations with EU
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
17 March 2020
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in his Department are working on securing a data adequacy agreement between the EU and the UK.
John Whittingdale: In his statement of 3 February, the Prime Minister confirmed that it is HMG’s intention to secure adequacy decisions to allow for the continued free flow of data between the UK and EU.
Teams across Whitehall, led by DCMS, are treating adequacy decisions as a priority and are continuing to work towards this aim. DCMS has a Data Adequacy Hub to lead the adequacy assessment process, supported by policy staff from the DCMS Data Policy Directorate and by DCMS legal staff. In addition, given the adequacy assessment process will be a cross Government exercise, DCMS is receiving further support from Whitehall Departments including Home Office, FCO, DIT, BEIS and HMT.