On 19 June 2026, John Edwards resigned from his role as the Information Commissioner. As a Crown appointee and accountable to Parliament, Mr Edwards submitted his resignation to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Mr Edwards voluntarily stepped back from his duties on 26 February 2026 to enable an independent workplace investigation which related to him. During the period from 26 February to 19 June, Mr Edwards remained as the Commissioner, with the organisation continuing to make decisions in accordance with the scheme of delegation, to ensure continuity in our leadership and regulatory work. The ICO’s Non-Executive Directors and the Executive Team remained in place, as set out later in this report.

In the period from 26 February to 10 June, the Commissioner was available should his input or oversight be needed to discharge our duties. This was set out in a letter to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on 28 April 2026. 

As announced on 10 June 2026, the investigation concluded that there was a case to answer and the Commissioner was deemed temporarily unable to act in fulfilling his responsibilities. 

From 10 June, Paul Arnold was given temporary responsibility for the Information Commissioner’s non-delegable responsibilities. This is because the law states (Schedule 12 of the Data Protection Act 2018), during any period where a serving Information Commissioner is unable to act or where there is a vacancy in the role, the Deputy Commissioners take on the reserved Information Commissioner’s responsibilities. As set out in the ICO's Scheme of Delegation, this means Paul Arnold took on these responsibilities. DSIT were informed of these arrangements and the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee notified. 

Following Mr Edwards's resignation with immediate effect on 19 June, these delegations continued, as there was a vacancy in the role of Information Commissioner. 

Paul Arnold is currently serving as Interim Chief Executive Designate of the Information Commission, alongside his Deputy Commissioner responsibilities at the ICO. In addition, due to the Commissioner being temporarily unable to act, on 8 June DSIT designated Paul as Temporary Acting Accounting Officer for the ICO. In addition, due to the Commissioner being temporarily unable to act, on 8 June DSIT designated Paul as Temporary Acting Accounting Officer for the ICO. 

Through the year, Paul attended the ICO’s Audit and Risk Committee, was a member of the Management Board and Executive Team and was the Accountable Officer, supporting the Commissioner in his Accounting Officer role, meaning throughout the year he has maintained the oversight and been provided with the assurance required to undertake this role and sign these accounts.