This Order exempts from section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, which entitles individuals to gain access to personal data held about them, personal data the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted by certain enactments and subordinate instruments in the interests of safeguarding the interests of the data subject himself or the rights and freedoms of some other individual (article 2).

The personal data which are exempted by the Order concern: human fertilisation and embryology information in the United Kingdom; information contained in adoption and parental order records and reports, and statements and records of the special educational needs of children in England or Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and, in Scotland only, information provided by reporters for the purposes of a children’s hearing (the Schedule).

This Order contributes to the implementation of Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment was prepared for the Data Protection Bill as it was then and the statutory instruments to be made under it, and was placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. The Regulatory Impact Assessment is now available on the internet at www.homeoffice.gov.uk. Alternatively, copies can be obtained by post from the Home Office, LGDP Unit, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AT.