The Information Commissioner is funded by a combination of grant in aid from the Ministry of Justice to pay for his freedom of information responsibilities and notification fees paid direct to the Commissioner by data controllers to pay for his data protection work.
Discussions are continuing with the Commissioner on the level of his grant in aid for 2009-10. A decision is expected shortly and will be notified to the Commissioner. The final figure will be published in the Main Estimate 2009-10 in April.
Following consultation last year, secondary legislation will shortly be introduced to Parliament to provide for tiered notification fees payable by data controllers. This will increase the Information Commissioner's funding in line with his estimate of the cost of meeting both his existing and proposed new statutory data protection responsibilities. The tiered notification fees will come into effect from October this year.