PART 7Miscellaneous and general
Data processing for immigration purposes
81Review of processing of victims' personal data for immigration purposes
(1)
The Secretary of State must, before the end of the relevant period—
(a)
review the processing of domestic abuse data carried out by specified public authorities for immigration purposes,
(b)
prepare and publish a report setting out the findings of the review, and
(c)
lay a copy of the report before Parliament.
(2)
In carrying out the review, the Secretary of State must have regard to the recommendations of the HMIC Report.
(3)
In subsection (1), the “relevant period” means the period beginning with the day on which this section comes into force and ending with 30 June 2021 (but see subsection (4)).
(4)
The Secretary of State may by regulations extend the relevant period by a further period of up to 6 months.
(5)
The power conferred by subsection (4) may be exercised only once.
(6)
In this section—
“domestic abuse data” means personal data obtained for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision of support in relation to domestic abuse to victims of domestic abuse or their children;
“the HMIC Report” means the report on Liberty and Southall Black Sisters' super-complaint on policing and immigration status published by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary on 17 December 2020;
“immigration officer” means a person appointed as an immigration officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971;
“immigration purposes” means the purposes of—
(a)
the maintenance of effective immigration control, or
(b)
the investigation or detection of activities that would undermine the maintenance of effective immigration control;
“personal data” has the meaning given by section 3(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018;
“processing” has the meaning given by section 3(4) of that Act;
“specified public authority” means—
(a)
a chief officer of police of a police force maintained for a police area in England and Wales;
(b)
the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland;
(c)
the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland;
(d)
the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police Force;
(e)
the Chief Constable of the Ministry of Defence Police;
(f)
an immigration officer or other official of the Secretary of State exercising functions in relation to immigration or asylum.
82Code of practice
(1)
The Secretary of State may issue a code of practice relating to the processing of domestic abuse data for immigration purposes.
(2)
A code of practice issued under this section—
(a)
must be kept under review;
(b)
may be revised or replaced.
(3)
A person to whom a code of practice issued under this section applies must have regard to it in processing domestic abuse data for immigration purposes.
(4)
In preparing, revising or replacing a code, the Secretary of State must consult—
(a)
the Domestic Abuse Commissioner,
(b)
the Information Commissioner, and
(c)
such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(5)
Before issuing a code (or a revised code) under this section, the Secretary of State must lay the code before Parliament.
(6)
If, within the 40-day period, either House of Parliament resolves not to approve the code—
(a)
the code is not to be issued, and
(b)
the Secretary of State may prepare another code.
(7)
If no such resolution is passed within the 40-day period, the Secretary of State may issue the code.
(8)
In this section, the “40-day period” is the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which the code is laid before Parliament (or, if it is not laid before each House of Parliament on the same day, the later of the 2 days on which it is laid).
(9)
In calculating the 40-day period, no account is to be taken of any period during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than 4 days.
(10)
In this section—
“domestic abuse data” has the same meaning as in section 81;
“immigration purposes” has the same meaning as in section 81;
“personal data” has the meaning given by section 3(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018;
“processing” has the meaning given by section 3(4) of that Act.