Clause 60
Health and Social Care Bill
Public Bill Committees, 17 January 2008, 3:15 pm
Stephen O'Brien (Shadow Minister, Health; Eddisbury, Conservative)
The clause deals with the power of the commission to require documents and information. I want to ask the Minister, in the light of events across Government that are both topical and recent, what guarantees he can give that data collected under the powers in the clause will be kept securely and is the Secretary of State ultimately liable?
Ben Bradshaw (Minister of State (Health Services; Minister for the South West), Department of Health; Exeter, Labour)
No, the hon. Gentleman will know that health managers are statutorily responsible for complying with data protection laws. I am sure that he follows these issues closely and will know that the data protection rules governing health data, because of their sensitive nature, are much stronger and more securely held and, indeed, have sometimes been criticised for being too difficult to access. That will remain the case under the clause.