Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether (a) his Department and (b) the NHS has been asked by security and intelligence agencies for care.data data sets.

We do not comment on security matters. The Department and the National Health Service takes protection of data very seriously. It is the role of the Health and Social Care Information Centre, a public body based in Leeds, to ensure that high quality information is used appropriately to improve patient care. The organisation has legal powers to collect and analyse information from all providers of NHS care. It is committed, and legally bound to the very highest standards of privacy, security and confidentiality to ensure that patient confidential information is protected at all times. Access to information is strictly controlled.