Explanatory note

This Order amends the Data Protection (Miscellaneous Subject Access Exemptions) Order. That Order exempts from section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (which entitles individuals to gain access to personal data held about them) personal data the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted by certain enactments and subordinate instruments in the interests of safeguarding the interests of the data subject himself or the rights and freedoms of some other individual.

The personal data which are exempted by that Order include information contained in adoption records and reports. Insofar as the exemption relates to information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted by regulations 6 and 14 of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 1983 or by regulation 23 of the Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 1996, that Order limits the exemption to records and other information in the possession of local authorities. However, an approved adoption society is an adoption agency for the purposes of both sets of Regulations. This Order therefore amends that Order by removing the limitation so that the exemption applies whether or not the adoption agency in possession of the records or information is a local authority.

This Order contributes to the implementation of Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment was prepared for the Data Protection Bill as it was then and the statutory instruments to be made under it, and was placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. The Regulatory Impact Assessment is now available on the internet at www.homeoffice.gov.uk Alternatively, copies can be obtained by post from the Home Office, LGDP Unit, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AT.