John Edwards resigns from his role
Information Commissioner John Edwards has resigned from the roles of Information Commissioner, and Chair of the Information Commission, with immediate effect.
Edwards says on his LinkedIn that he has today notified the Rt Hon Ian Murray, Minister of State (Minister for Digital, Government and Data) of his resignation which followed an independent workplace investigation into HR matters.
“Since February of this year I have been the subject of an investigation. While I have not agreed with how that investigation has been conducted, I accept that my position has become untenable,” he says.
“From the time the investigation was launched, I have accepted that there have been occasions where I exercised poor judgement and made attempts at humour that were inappropriate and caused offence. It is for this reason that I have decided that it is appropriate that I resign from my position.”
On 10 June, the ICO announced that Deputy Commissioner and Chief Executive Paul Arnold will temporarily perform the non-delegable duties of the Information Commissioner with the title of Temporary Acting Accounting Officer for the ICO.
The resignation comes at a critical time. The ICO is due to formally publish its new strategy under the Data (Use and Access) Act to set out how it will deliver on the new framework, but the names of the seven Non-Executive Directors have not yet been announced by the government, and the Information Commissioner is the Chair of the new Information Commission.
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