Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
Fourth Report - Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit
Published 28 Apr 2021
Paragraph 111
Addressed to Northern Ireland Executive; Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
It is welcome that the UK has successfully obtained draft data adequacy decisions from the European Commission. The UK maintaining data adequacy status is key for the continuation of efficient data sharing between the PSNI and the Gardaí, as well as other UK and Irish crime agencies, and the finalising of data adequacy decisions is therefore critical. If granted, the UK’s data adequacy status will be reviewed periodically, and it may be subject to legal challenge as previous EU data adequacy decisions on third countries statuses have been. The Government must explain how it plans to ensure that the UK’s data protection regime continues to clear the necessary bar to maintain the country’s data adequacy status. The Government must proactively engage with the European Commission on this as part of efforts to ensure that data adequacy decisions are reached in good time, ahead of deadlines for their adoption, and to avoid uncertainty about the future of data sharing arrangements.
From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Fourth Report - Cross-border co-operation on policing, security and criminal justice after Brexit (HC 766), paragraph 111, 28 April 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 5 July 2021 (deadline 28 June 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government response sets out how the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) arrangements operate and says it will "take steps to address any issues should they arise", while giving a mostly non-committal reply on several recommendations.
- On the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, the government says it was convened on 24 June 2021 in Dublin, and "It was agreed that the next BIIGC should take place in London in November."
- On inviting Northern Ireland Executive representatives to the Specialised Committee, the government says it values their perspective, but "final discretion in any specific instance as regards attendance would be held by the UK co-chair".
- On a review of extradition after two years, the response does not commit to one. It says it will "continue to work closely" with partners to monitor the arrangements and "take steps to address any issues should they arise".
- On a Northern Ireland centre of excellence, the government says it "looks forward to reviewing any proposed plans" from the PSNI, the Department of Justice and other agencies.