Richard Thomas re-appointed as Information Commissioner until 2009
House of Commons Hansard:
Written Ministerial Statements Thursday, 29 March 2007Prime Minister
Re-Appointment of the Information Commissioner
Tony Blair (Prime Minister):
I am pleased to announce that The Queen has approved the re-appointment of Mr Richard Thomas as the Information Commissioner, from 29 November this year until his 60th birthday on 18 June 2009.
The Number 10 Downing Street website press release has a few further details:
[...]
The Information Commissioner serves for a term of up to 5 years and, after the first term, is eligible for re-appointment for a further 5 years. Richard Thomas was appointed the Information Commissioner in November 2002. He is being re-appointed for a further term but, at his own request, only until his 60th birthday in June 2009.
The Information Commissioner has independent status, reporting directly to Parliament, with responsibility for enforcing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Data Protection Act 1998 and related legislation. The functions of his office include promoting good practice, ruling on complaints under this legislation, providing information to individuals and organisations and taking appropriate action when the law is broken.