UK DP Reform Redlines (Keeling Schedules)

Reform legislation can be hard to read, as most of provisions propose amendments to existing pieces of laws. This is especially true of the Data Protection & Digital Information (No. 2) Bill (the ‘Bill’), released in March 2023, which has some contradictory amendments due to the proposed timing of amendments. By way of example, s.13 of the Bill amends Article 30 of the UK GDPR, only for s.15 of the Bill to omit it – this is because the Government propose to introduce s.15 at a later date. Trying to understand the changes being made can therefore be a frustrating experience.

To allow us to advise our clients, we have prepared three Keeling Schedules, which show how the Bill amends each of the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive). We are now sharing these with you. Links to each document are at the bottom of this page.

Each of these Schedules shows what the Bill proposes to add and remove – if there are contradictions, we have taken the approach of showing the changes once all the Bill’s amendments are in effect and the more temporary amendments are not shown. We have also, where practical, tried to show what limited changes have occurred since the first version of this Bill was laid before Parliament in the summer. Finally, to help you keep track, we’ve added a reference to the section of the Bill that makes each amendment. This should help us keep the documents up to date as the Bill goes through further tweaks during the Parliamentary process. Each document makes it clear which stage of the Bill it reflects.

When will Parliament start reviewing the Bill?

The next stage for the Bill is second reading in the Commons. This is the first time that UK Members of Parliament will be able to debate the Bill. The Bill is unlikely to face any substantial opposition or amendment in the Commons. Second Reading is timetabled for 17 April 2023.

Why are these called Keeling Schedules?

Usually, red-lines of this nature are provided by the Government – and they may produce such documents in due course. The first call for this type of document was made the MP Sir Edward Herbert Keeling in 1938. He has been remembered ever since in the terminology of Parliament. Formal Keeling Schedules (which are added to the bills themselves) are rarely used, but the same name is used for explanatory documents issues by the relevant Department to allow MPs (and others) to understand what effects proposed changes will have.