Committee publication · Correspondence · 1 July 2026
Correspondence from Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), re. Ongoing governance arrangements, 29 June
Summary
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) writes to reassure Parliament's Science, Innovation and Technology Committee following John Edwards's resignation as Information Commissioner on 19 June 2026. The ICO confirms governance continuity through existing delegation schemes and announces Paul Arnold will become Accounting Officer. A lessons learned exercise will follow the preceding workplace investigation.
Key findings
- John Edwards resigned as Information Commissioner effective 19 June 2026; his resignation was submitted to DSIT
- ICO has activated existing delegation scheme to maintain governance continuity during the interim period
- Paul Arnold (CEO) expects designation as Accounting Officer by DSIT in due course
- Independent lessons learned exercise will be commissioned following the workplace investigation and will report to the new Information Commissioner's board
- ICO plans to publish annual report and consult on new corporate strategy focusing on data trust and protection
Tone
ProceduralTopics
governancepublic-officedata-protectionaccountability
Key actors
John Edwards, Paul Arnold, Dame Chi Onwurah MP, Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Notable line
“The Board and I, together with the Executive team, are committed to continuing to lead the ICO, to ensure continuity in our leadership and regulatory work.”
Key Quotes
“John Edwards resigned from the role of Information Commissioner on Friday 19 June. While the Information Commissioner is not an employee of the ICO and Mr Edwards resignation was submitted to DSIT, I wanted to continue to update the committee and assure them of the ongoing governance arrangements at ICO.”
“The ICO has a clear scheme of delegation in place and following Mr. Edwards's resignation with immediate effect, these delegations continue.”
“As I'm sure the committee would expect, following any workplace investigation which precedes the resignation of a serving holder of a public office, a thorough and independent lessons learned exercise will be commissioned shortly which will report to the new Information Commission 's board.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗