Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to implement a data linkage study of the Gender Identity Development Services.

The Government and National Health Service are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Cass Review in full. This includes carrying out the data linkage study.

Since taking over responsibility for delivery of the data linkage study, NHS England has taken time to undertake due diligence work on the data sources critical to the study, and to work with organisations to refine the planned approach to data sharing. In common with usual research practice, the data linkage study protocol will be made available in the public domain once independent research and ethical approvals have been appropriately secured, at which point the analytical work can begin.