Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons for specified minutes, notes, and correspondence relating to Government contracts awarded to Randox Laboratories Ltd, HC1072, laid before the House on 17 November 2021, whether his Department searched for relevant WhatsApp messages (a) to or (b) from the former Parliamentary Under Secretary for Innovation, Lord Bethell, in meeting the terms of the Humble Address.

The Department has followed a rigorous process to identify all relevant documents within the scope of the Humble Address. This included searching Departmental and personal communications, such as the personal WhatsApp messages of current and former ministers, including the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Lord Bethell).