Under the Data Protection Act 2018, those defined as data controllers, which may include elected councillors, police and crime commissioners and elected mayors, are no longer required to notify and register with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Data controllers are however required to pay an annual charge to the ICO and provide the information necessary to determine that charge unless a relevant exemption applies. The Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, which came into force on the 25th May 2018, introduced a new data protection charge, replacing the previous notification fee, which was associated with the previous legal requirement on data controllers to register with the ICO.

Currently, data controllers do not have to pay the annual data protection charge if they process personal data without an automated system, such as a computer, or if they only process personal data for one (or more) of the following purposes: staff administration; advertising, marketing and public relations; accounts and records; not-for-profit purposes; personal, family or household affairs; maintaining a public register; and judicial functions. Charities and small occupational pension schemes are also automatically subject to the lowest tier of charge.

On 17th December 2018 an amendment to the Regulations was laid in Parliament to introduce a new exemption for the payment of the annual data protection charge for (i) members of the House of Lords; and (ii) elected representatives, as defined in paragraph 23(3) of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018 (“the DPA 2018”) in connection with the discharge of their respective functions; and (iii) relevant processing undertaken by candidates (prospective and validly nominated) seeking to become elected representatives. This new exemption would apply specifically to elected councillors, police and crime commissioners and elected mayors.

Subject to Parliamentary processes (and a vote in each House), the exemption will come into force from 1 April 2019.

We believe that protecting children online is everyone's responsibility and that social media providers can positively contribute to our aim of making Britain the safest place in the world to be online.

By incorporating online safety messages and highlighting safety tools within their platforms, social media providers can remind children about how to stay safe and help parents understand the best ways of protecting their children.

As part of the work on the Digital Charter announced in the Queen's Speech, the Government is considering a range of options to counter internet harms.

This includes an Internet Safety Strategy which will look at how we can support users so that everyone can access the benefits of the Internet safely. The Strategy, which was published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on 11 October, considers the responsibilities of companies to their users, the use of technical solutions to prevent online harms and government's role in supporting users. The Strategy also considers the role that technology companies can play in awareness and education for users, including children.

All licensed gambling operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain are required to ensure that the terms on which gambling is offered are fair and open.

As part of a joint programme of work to tackle unfair terms and practices in the gambling industry, the Gambling Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority are investigating the obstacles people face when trying to withdraw their money after gaming or betting online, including ‘dormancy’ charges on players’ accounts after a period of inactivity, or terms which remove all funds from inactive accounts.

It is a further licensing requirement that marketing should be socially responsible, and should not be sent to those who have self-excluded. A new online self-exclusion scheme called ‘Gamstop’ is due to be launched by spring of next year. The scheme will allow customers to self-exclude from all British licensed operators in a single step and will significantly strengthen the self-exclusion arrangements available for online gamblers.

The Community Organisers programme contract ran from 2010 - 2015. A new Community Organisers Expansion Programme was launched in March 2017 and will run until 2020.

1) The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) contracted the delivery of the Community Organisers Expansion Programme.

2) 20 Social Action Hubs will be appointed across England to train Community Organisers as part of the Expansion Programme. The first 10 hubs have been publicly announced (http://www.corganisers.org.uk/news/launch-2nd-round-funding) and the second 10 will be announced later in 2017.

3) The Community Organisers programme costs for 2010 - 2015 are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts which can be found at the link below. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts. The Community Organisers Expansion programme costs for the financial year 2016/17 will be published by DCMS in mid July 2017 on the Gov.uk website.

The Big Society programme remains a key manifesto commitment of the government and is a responsibility of all departments.

The government’s vision is to have a more engaged nation where we take greater responsibility for ourselves and for our neighbours.

Programmes such as the National Citizen Service are helping to build a more responsible and more engaged society along with programmes such as Community Organisers, which is bringing local people together to take action on issues they care about. These are two examples of the current initiatives that are taking place.