Information Commissioner to decide in autumn on future approach to dealing with public sector

The Information Commissioner’s Office has said it will make a decision in the autumn on its approach to working with public sector organisations, following the end of a two-year trial.

The ICO set out its revised approach in 2022 in an open letter, which indicated that greater use would be made of the ICO’s wider powers, including warnings, reprimands and enforcement notices, “with fines only issued in the most serious cases”.

In a statement today on the end of the trial, the watchdog said: “While we have continued to issue fines to public bodies where appropriate, we have also been using our other regulatory tools to ensure people’s information is handled appropriately and money isn't diverted away from where it's needed the most.

“We will now review the two-year trial before making a decision on the public sector approach in the autumn. In the meantime, we will continue to apply this approach to our regulatory activities in relation to public sector organisations.”