Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ian Byrne this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 208 · this parliament
What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of a) the vote by the BMA GP Committee in favour of the GP Committee for England to explore an alternative strategy for general prac
We recognise that the British Medical Association (BMA) may choose to ballot its members on a range of issues. Such ballots are a matter for the organisation and do not in themselves determine Government policy. The National Health Service, including gene...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing eligibility for Education, Health and Care Plans to only the most complex cases on equality of access to specialist educational support; and what
The department has carefully assessed the impact of our proposals, and this is included in our published equalities impact and child’s rights impact assessments.Under our proposed reforms, education, health and care (EHC) plans will continue to exist, but...
If she will put in place transitional safeguards for children and young people who currently hold an EHCP to ensure that, during reassessment under the new SEND model proposed, there is no reduction in the leve
Under the department’s proposals, a triple lock of transitional protections will ensure children get the support they need.Every child with a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in a special school until they finish education.Trans...
Whether the Government intends to introduce accountability mechanisms in legislation to ensure that the National Inclusion Standards and updated SEND Code of Practice lead to improvements in outcomes for pupils
The department plans to introduce National Inclusion Standards, which we propose should set out minimum standards all settings must adhere to, including a range of evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and su...
What discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with Tommy’s on the potential wider rollout of its Graded Model of Miscarriage Care.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women’s Health and Mental Health (Baroness Merron) has previously met with Tommy’s regarding the Graded Model of Miscarriage Care, and officials have recently met with the charity to discuss its report and pi...
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Palantir’s role supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the US on the confidence of NHS patients to divulge medical information.
The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) holds no information on the immigration or residency status of patients. NHS England has published extensive information on the NHS FDP, its contractual safeguards, and how it is designed solely for medical purposes. There is a web portal where people can find out more information about the NHS FDP and ask questions.
To give a detailed description of how procurement of the contract for the Federated Data Platform (FDP), after the current contract ending date of 15/02/2027, will proceed, including timeline, whether the incumbent contract holder Palantir is considered to be a preferred bidder, whether the NHS has a break clause in this contract with Palantir, whether the NHS is able to renew the contract automatically without hearing any competing bids, and any other relevant information relating to the terms of the contract.
The current contract for the NHS Federated Data Platform is for seven years, ending in 2030, with break clauses at three years, two years, and one year. No decisions have been made about any procurement after then end of the contract. The contact is published at the following link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/2e8c61c0-faab-4f99-ae69-b00df6bae165?origin=SearchResults&p=1
What role Senior Information Risk Owners and Caldicott Guardians play in overseeing data governance for the Federated Data Platform (FDP) within Integrated Care Boards and NHS trusts; and whether those roles are held by executive board members.
Every integrated care board and National Health Service trust board, who are data controllers for data held within their own individual instance of the NHS Federated Data Platform, has responsibility for data governance and managing risk.Integrated care boards in the NHS are mandated to appoint both a senior information risk officer and a Caldicott Guardian. These roles are essential for ensuring compliance with patient data confidentiality, information governance, and the secure handling of information within the organisation.Information on whether or not Caldicott Guardians are Executive Board members is not held centrally.
Whether his Department carried out an equalities impact assessment of the Federated Data Platform (FDP) (a) prior to its rollout and (b) at any point since.
The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) is a data platform rather than a clinical service in itself. NHS England does not require an Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment (EHIA) by default for data platforms. As such, a determination was made in line with NHS England guidance that the NHS FDP did not meet the requirements for an EHIA.
What assessment his Department has made of concerns raised by the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee regarding the outsourcing of NHS data infrastructure to a single overseas technology provider; and what steps have been taken to mitigate systemic data security risks arising from that arrangement.
Data infrastructure in the National Health Service is not outsourced to a single provider, as the NHS makes use of a variety of technology providers, including hyper-scalers. Contracts include specific provisions to ensure the security of personal data.
What metrics are being used to measure the success of the Palantir-powered Federated Data Platform (FDP); and whether any productivity gains or improvements to patient care have been attributed to the FDP thus far, as opposed to any other intervention.
During product development, the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) team identified relevant usage and benefits measures for each specific product. These measures are related to the problem statement the product was designed to address and are co-developed with users.Once a product has completed development and testing and becomes generally available, data on the usage and benefits measures at an aggregate level, across all organisations nationally, are published on the NHS FDP website. Over time, further products will become generally available on the NHS FDP, supporting the National Health Service areas of elective care, urgent and emergency care, cancer and diagnostics, operational management, and population health and neighbourhood care.Information on the benefits derived from the NHS FDP is published each quarter by NHS England and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/nhs-federated-data-platform/impact/fdp-uptake-and-benefits/In addition to the quantitative benefits, information from organisations on the benefits they are seeing from the NHS FDP from a qualitative perspective is collected in the form of case studies available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/nhs-federated-data-platform/impact/case-studies/
Whether a standardised definition of an information governance breach applies across all NHS trusts and Integrated Care Boards in relation to the Federated Data Platform (FDP); what criteria are used to classify breaches as serious or major; and who is responsible for determining that classification.
The Information Governance Framework for the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) is published at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/federated-data-platform-information-governance-framework/Data breaches are determined in line with the guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office. In the event of an actual or suspected security breach or data loss incident (incident) in any instance of the NHS FDP or NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology (NHS-PET), any party who becomes aware of the incident will notify NHS England.In the case of the platform contractor, such a notification will be made in accordance with its obligations under clause 20, which is regarding authority data and security requirements, clause 23, regarding protection of personal data, and/or Schedule 2.4, regarding security management, of the agreement, as well as clause 6 of the FDP Data Processing Agreement. In addition, in the case of the NHS-PET Contractor, such a notification will be made in accordance with its obligations under clause 17, regarding protection of personal data, Schedule 3, regarding cyber security and information governance, of the Contract, and/or clause 6 of the NHS-PET Data Processing Agreement.The NHS FDP contractor will notify NHS England of all incidents. The NHS FDP Contractor and user organisations will co-operate with NHS England’s service bridge, cyber, security, data protection, and incident management teams in the investigation, management, mitigation, rectification, restoration, and resolution of the incident in accordance with the NHS FDP Incident Management Protocol.The relevant controller will report any personal data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office in line with its responsibilities under UK General Data Protection Regulation.NHS England and the NHS FDP contractors will co-operate with the local NHS FDP user organisation’s cyber, security, data protection, and incident management teams in the investigation, management, mitigation, rectification, restoration, and resolution of the incident in accordance with the NHS FDP Incident Management Protocol.Brief details of all personal data breaches, including their root cause, will be reported by NHS England, the NHS FDP contractor, or the local NHS FDP user organisation, depending on who the controller and processor is in relation to the personal data breach, to the Data Governance Group. Each party will co-operate with the other impacted parties in the production of the reports.
What statutory and contractual reporting requirements apply where an information governance breach relating to the Federated Data Platform (FDP) occurs; what oversight arrangements ensure compliance with the 72-hour reporting requirement to the Information Commissioner’s Office; and what action is taken if that requirement is not met.
The Information Governance Framework for the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) is published at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/federated-data-platform-information-governance-framework/Data breaches are determined in line with the guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office. In the event of an actual or suspected security breach or data loss incident (incident) in any instance of the NHS FDP or NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology (NHS-PET), any party who becomes aware of the incident will notify NHS England.In the case of the platform contractor, such a notification will be made in accordance with its obligations under clause 20, which is regarding authority data and security requirements, clause 23, regarding protection of personal data, and/or Schedule 2.4, regarding security management, of the agreement, as well as clause 6 of the FDP Data Processing Agreement. In addition, in the case of the NHS-PET Contractor, such a notification will be made in accordance with its obligations under clause 17, regarding protection of personal data, Schedule 3, regarding cyber security and information governance, of the Contract, and/or clause 6 of the NHS-PET Data Processing Agreement.The NHS FDP contractor will notify NHS England of all incidents. The NHS FDP Contractor and user organisations will co-operate with NHS England’s service bridge, cyber, security, data protection, and incident management teams in the investigation, management, mitigation, rectification, restoration, and resolution of the incident in accordance with the NHS FDP Incident Management Protocol.The relevant controller will report any personal data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office in line with its responsibilities under UK General Data Protection Regulation.NHS England and the NHS FDP contractors will co-operate with the local NHS FDP user organisation’s cyber, security, data protection, and incident management teams in the investigation, management, mitigation, rectification, restoration, and resolution of the incident in accordance with the NHS FDP Incident Management Protocol.Brief details of all personal data breaches, including their root cause, will be reported by NHS England, the NHS FDP contractor, or the local NHS FDP user organisation, depending on who the controller and processor is in relation to the personal data breach, to the Data Governance Group. Each party will co-operate with the other impacted parties in the production of the reports.
What contractual safeguards and sanctions are contained within the Federated Data Platform (FDP) agreement to address any breach of data protection obligations by the contracted technology provider or any subcontractor; and what mechanisms exist for independent external scrutiny of compliance.
The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) is built with robust security and privacy controls to ensure that access to National Health Service data is tightly governed and independently auditable.The NHS FDP Information Governance Framework clearly lays out the roles and responsibilities relating to breach notification and management, defining organisations’ responsibilities in this area.All user activity within the NHS FDP environment is logged for auditing purposes. These logs are monitored by both the suppliers platform team and the NHS Cyber Security Operations Centre to detect and respond to any malicious activity.The NHS FDP contract includes audit provisions that allow NHS England to validate and confirm that contractual requirements are being met. These rights of audit are standard within NHS commercial agreements and provide assurance that the platform operates in accordance with NHS England’s expectations and legal obligations, including compliance with UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
What assurance mechanisms are in place to safeguard patient-identifiable data within the Federated Data Platform (FDP) operating across NHS trusts and the Integrated Care Board in Cheshire and Merseyside; and what independent audit or verification processes are undertaken to ensure compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) is built with robust security and privacy controls to ensure that access to National Health Service data is tightly governed and independently auditable.The NHS FDP Information Governance Framework clearly lays out the roles and responsibilities relating to breach notification and management, defining organisations’ responsibilities in this area.All user activity within the NHS FDP environment is logged for auditing purposes. These logs are monitored by both the suppliers platform team and the NHS Cyber Security Operations Centre to detect and respond to any malicious activity.The NHS FDP contract includes audit provisions that allow NHS England to validate and confirm that contractual requirements are being met. These rights of audit are standard within NHS commercial agreements and provide assurance that the platform operates in accordance with NHS England’s expectations and legal obligations, including compliance with UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of alternative governance for water utilities, including public ownership and mutual structures.
There are several different ownership models in the companies providing water in the United Kingdom.Where a company requests to transition to a new ownership model, we have committed in the White Paper that the regulator will develop a transparent process to assess whether the change should go ahead and ensure customer interests are properly reflected in the decision.
Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections of wastewater treatment works and storm overflows were conducted by the Environment Agency in each of the last five years.
The Environment Agency has provided the following figures for inspections of wastewater treatment works and storm overflows in each of the last five financial years. Financial YearTotals2021-226392022-238782023-2414422024-2546722025-2610150 * 2025/26 data is year to date (as of 18 March). March 2026 data is also still to be completed.
Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of enforcement action taken against water and sewerage undertakers for breaches of environmental permits.
We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency (EA) will not hesitate to hold companies to account. The Water (Special Measures) Act has provided the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, giving existing regulators the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies, including new powers for the EA to impose automatic penalties, and penalties to the lower, civil standard of proof. Over the past three years, the annual inspections requirement has risen from 1,000 to 4,000 with a target of 10,000 for 2025/26, reflecting a significant strengthening of regulatory oversight. By the end of February 2026, over 10,154 inspections had already been delivered. As a result of this strengthened regulatory presence, the EA has brought forward 19 legal proceedings, four prosecutions, and 19 civil sanctions so far this year, alongside increased warnings and further investigations into serious pollution incidents.
Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of current levels of investment in wastewater infrastructure.
A record £104 billion of private sector investment has been secured to accelerate the cleaning up of our rivers, lakes and seas. This includes over £10 billion to improve nearly 2,500 storm overflows in England over the next five years. We will move to a system where assets are properly maintained and develop forward-looking asset health metrics to ensure this critical infrastructure gets the funding it needs.
Food and Rural Affairs, what safeguards are in place to prevent conflicts of interest arising between regulators of the water sector and the water and sewerage undertakers they regulate.
The Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat have robust safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest between regulators and the water and sewerage companies they oversee. All EA employees, contractors and temporary workers must submit an annual declaration of interests, including a nil return where no interests are held. Declarations cover all aspects of an individual’s role and are reviewed by managers, who must identify any actual or potential conflicts and put appropriate mitigation measures in place where necessary. Ofwat’s conflict of interest arrangements are based on wider Civil Service standards. Staff must declare any actual or potential conflicts on appointment, annually, and as they arise, including during procurement and recruitment, with all declarations recorded in a central register. Conflicts are managed on a proportionate, case-by-case basis, supported by strict rules on financial interests, controls on confidential information, and senior management oversight. Business Appointment Rules may also apply when staff leave Ofwat.