Department for Work and Pensions: Members' Constituency Work

Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 18 April 2018.

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Photo of Marion Fellows Marion Fellows SNP Whip, Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Small Business, Enterprise and Innovation)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will undertake a review of her Department's policy to only recognise implicit consent to act on peoples' behalf from MPs and their offices; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending that recognition further to (a) welfare rights groups (b) and Citizens Advice.

Photo of Alok Sharma Alok Sharma The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

The online digital account, which is fundamental to the design of the full service, allows claimants access to all their personal, medical, financial and other data. As a result, the claimant ‘holds the key’ to that account at all times.

Running a system of implied consent means that the risk of disclosure of this material to third parties is heightened beyond an acceptable level under data protection rules and might also undermine some of the other security features we build into the system through personal accreditation.

Claimants can now provide explicit consent by making an entry in their journal.

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