Danny Alexander (Shadow Minister and Disability Spokesperson, Work & Pensions; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, Liberal Democrat)

I shall be brief. There are broader issues, some of which were raised earlier by the hon. Member for Daventry, that we might consider in a clause stand part debate.

The amendments would exclude medical information from the information that can be shared under clauses 40 and 41. The reason is pretty simple and straightforward: as I hope all members of the Committee agree, medical information is particularly personal and is, with good reason, subject to a great degree of confidentiality in the medical system. Without such an exclusion, there is a risk that medical information about claimants could float around the system, being passed back and forth between agencies. That could include potentially sensitive, personal medical information. Is there not a risk that relatives or other people known to a claimant could get access to their medical information through the mechanism in the clauses? It is an important principle that medical information about an individual should be subject to very high standards of confidentiality and of appropriateness before being shared with any other agency. I hope that the Minister can allay my concern.

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