The retention of, and ability to access, communications data is an essential tool for intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The Government is committed to ensuring that our investigatory powers legislation is compliant with EU law.<\/p>
The Government gave careful consideration to judgments by the European Court of Justice and the domestic Courts, implementing changes to UK law to ensure our communications data regime was compliant, while still ensuring our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have the powers they need to solve crimes, catch child sexual offenders and protect the public.<\/p>
After consulting widely on our proposed changes and following scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament, the Government passed the Data Retention and Acquisition Regulations in October 2018 which introduced a serious crime threshold for acquiring events communications data.<\/p>
In deciding on the definition of serious crime in the context of communications data, the Government fully considered the intrusiveness of the power.<\/p>
This approach is consistent with EU case law, which states that the offence must be serious to justify a serious level of intrusion involved in accessing communications data. The Government\u2019s approach reflects this level of intrusion. Events data is more intrusive than entity data and therefore a higher threshold must apply, but it is not as intrusive as interception powers, which can only be acquired if the definition of seriousness set out at section 263 of the Investigatory Powers Act is met.
The approach taken by the Regulations seeks to reflect the fact the level of intrusion will vary depending on the data sought and the circumstances of the case while also establishing a clear bar below which the acquisition of the more intrusive communications data is prohibited.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1539", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Ben Wallace"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wyre and Preston North"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Ben Wallace"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-03T15:46:19.367Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Surveillance"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department\u2019s policies in relation to the definition of applicable crime in Part 3 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 of the finding of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Watson & Others that surveillance data retained for the purposes of fighting crime should be restricted solely to serious crime.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/373", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir David Davis"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Haltemprice and Howden"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr David Davis"}
], "uin" : "271353"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135475", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135475/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
All applicants granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will have agreed that they have been continuously resident in the UK for less than five years either in the application or, post-submission, in discussion with a caseworker.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-03T15:41:03.947Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Immigration: EU Nationals"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2019 to Question 261210, how many applicants who have asserted in their application that they have been continuously resident in the UK for more than five years have been granted pre-settled status to date.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4058", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Blomfield"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sheffield Central"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Blomfield"} ], "uin" : "270743"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135476", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135476/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.<\/a><\/p> Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.<\/p> In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "270745"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-03T15:33:05.293Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Immigration: EU Nationals"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to pages 9-10 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, for what reasons automated residency checks will not check applicants' records on child benefit.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4058", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Blomfield"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sheffield Central"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Blomfield"}
], "uin" : "270744"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135477", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135477/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.<\/a><\/p> Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.<\/p> In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4048", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Caroline Nokes"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romsey and Southampton North"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Nokes"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "270744"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-03T15:33:05.343Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Immigration: EU Nationals"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to pages 9-10 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, whether automatic residency checks will give equal weight when calculating length of residence to evidence of (a) one month of employment and (b) one month of claiming housing benefit, employment support allowance, carer's allowance, personal independence payments, disability living allowance, income support, incapacity benefit, attendance allowance, severe disability allowance and/or universal credit.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4058", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Blomfield"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sheffield Central"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Blomfield"}
], "uin" : "270745"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135548", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1135548/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for speed limit offences and data for the 2018/19 financial year is due to be published as official statistics in October 2019.<\/p>