The new data on nationality, country of birth and English language proficiency will, for the first time, assist the understanding of the impact of migration on schools. For example, what extra support the Government may need to provide to schools with high numbers of children who do not speak English as a first language. It will also help to plan for enough good school places for every child.

Without the evidence and data, the Department cannot have a clear picture of how the school system is working. It will ensure that funds are allocated where needed and that no groups of children miss out on the education they deserve.

The new data on nationality and country of birth is solely for DfE analysts to use for research. This data has not been shared outside the Department.

To address any uncertainties regarding how this information should be collected or used, an information note is placed in the House Libraries.

Whilst the Department has not conducted any specific engagement on these provisions, the Government has consulted extensively on the development of the Investigatory Powers Bill, including the provisions relating to the additional safeguards for the security and intelligence agencies’ retention and use of bulk personal datasets.

The draft Bill, published last November, built on the three independent reviews on investigatory powers by David Anderson QC, the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), and the Independent Surveillance Panel convened by the Royal United Services Institute. The draft Bill was then subject to Parliamentary scrutiny by a dedicated Joint Committee, the ISC and the Science and Technology Select Committee. The Government has had over 60 meetings and briefings with industry representatives, academics, civil liberties groups, and charities and victims groups since the draft Bill was published in November.

No patient communications will occur until the independent expert Dame Fiona Caldicott, as National Data Guardian, has reviewed them and provided advice.

The care.data Programme Board membership includes Simon Denegri, the National Director for Public Participation and Engagement in Research at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and chair of Involve, the group funded by NIHR to support public involvement in National Health Service, public health and social care research.

The care.data programme is engaging with patients and the public through a number of routes including through the care.data Advisory Group, public events, research and work with a wide range of voluntary sector partners.

Care.data is NHS England’s programme to make increased use of information with the intention of improving health services. As a National Health Service-led programme, it would not be appropriate for the Department’s logo to appear. The only material currently published on the programme is the 2014 NHS leaflet “Better information means better care” and the associated information available on the NHS England website:

http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/tsd/care-data.

The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.

The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.

The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.

The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.

The care.data Programme Board represents a range of organisations and areas, including patients and the public. For further information on the care.data Programme Board, the full Terms of Reference are available online at:

http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/tsd/care-data/prog-board/

Tim Kelsey chairs the care.data Programme Board in his role as Senior Responsible Owner. Tim Kelsey is accountable to Simon Stevens and the NHS England Board, as care.data is a programme funded by NHS England, and to Will Cavendish, as Informatics Accountable Officer (IAO) at the Department of Health, who has accountability for ensuring all national health and care informatics programmes deliver successfully.

The Accounting Officer (AO) for the Department has overall responsibility for the design, funding and regulation of the health and care system. The IAO carries out a similar function for those aspects of the health and care system which relate to the provision of information technology and the use of data, acting on behalf of the AO and, as appropriate, the Secretary of State to put in place sponsorship processes for each of the Department’s arm’s length bodies (ALBs) for delivery of relevant commitments in each ALB’s policy and legislative framework.

No data have yet been extracted as part of the care.data programme. There will be no access to data that flow from the pathfinder practices, other than in a secure data facility on site at the Health and Social Care Information Centre in Leeds during the pathfinder stage.

No data will be extracted from the care.data programme until the National Data Guardian is satisfied the programme is ready for the extractions to begin.

When a patient objects, they are requesting that their confidential general practitioner data is not used for purposes other than their direct care.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. Information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing. No change will take place when primary care data begins to be extracted for care.data that will alter how patients are able to access or are notified of these services.

NHS England is committed to openness and transparency in its work and decision making. As part of that commitment, NHS England maintains and publishes a Register of Members’ Interests which draws together Declarations of Interest made by Board Members. In addition, members of the Board are required at the commencement of each meeting to declare any personal interest they may have in any business on the agenda.

The latest version is available on NHS England’s website at:

http://www.england.nhs.uk/about/reg-interests/

In February 2014 NHS England announced an extension to the care.data programme to listen to the views and concerns of patients and health professionals about the programme. During the listening exercise neither type of objection was implemented as no data was extracted. This means that information for services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals is currently flowing and will continue to do so.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection.

The Senior Responsible Owner for the care.data programme was appointed on an interim basis in March 2014. That appointment has been reviewed by the Major Projects Authority which works with HM Treasury and other government departments to provide independent assurance on major projects. A permanent appointment for that post will be made in the near future in line with the guidance set out by the Major Projects Authority in the Cabinet Office.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 empowers the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) to require organisations providing care funded by the National Health Service to submit data to it when directed by the Secretary of State for Health or by NHS England.

The decision to proceed with fair processing and data extraction from the pathfinder practices will be taken by the care.data Programme Board. NHS England and the HSCIC will be required to give their approval to proceed as Joint Data Controllers as a pre-requisite to Board approval.

This collection will only take place once the National Data Guardian, Dame Fiona Caldicott, is satisfied it is right and safe to do so.

Tim Kelsey, was appointed as Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) in March 2014 on the departure of the programme’s previous SRO by the Department’s then Director General for Information, Governance and Operations and Informatics Accountable Officer (IAO). He is accountable to the Department of Health’s Director General for Innovation, Growth and Technology, who is also the Department’s IAO.

The SRO is accountable for successful delivery of the care.data programme and its benefits for the health and care system. This involves ensuring the project is set up for delivery, is managed and resourced well, that it delivers the benefits required and manages costs and risks.

The Programme Board was reconstituted in June 2014 following a Project Validation Review carried out by the Major Projects Authority. Programme Board members were formally invited to join by Tim Kelsey, the SRO, based upon the requirement identified by the review for a balance of representation from the Department, those arm’s length bodies with involvement in the programme and representation from those involved in the delivery of the programme at a local level.

The Programme Board was reconstituted in June 2014 following a Project Validation Review carried out by the Major Project Authority. Programme Board members were formally invited to join by the Senior Responsible Owner, Tim Kelsey, based upon the requirement for a balance of representation from the Department of Health, those arm’s length bodies with involvement in the programme and representation from those involved in the delivery of the programme at a local level.

In November 2014, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the establishment of a new National Data Guardian to be the patient’s champion when it comes to the security of personal medical information. Dame Fiona Caldicott will be the first National Guardian and she has agreed that it will be her responsibility to raise concerns publicly about improper data use.

Dame Fiona Caldicott’s Independent Information Governance Oversight Panel’s report to the care.data Programme was published on 18 December 2014 and is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iigop-report-on-caredata

The report outlined the evidence of readiness of the Pathfinder stage Dame Fiona would want to see before she would advise on the next stage of Pathfinder stage of the care.data programme.