Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) children and young people and (b) adults whose care has moved to adult gender services will be able to opt out of research into those who attended the Gender Identity Development Services at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Cass’ critical report underlined the lack of robust research available in this space, therefore we will strive to embed evidence gathering within the delivery of gender services moving forward. Regarding the data linkage study established by the Cass review and led by the University of York, we can confirm that the study received full approval from the Health Research Authority. Like all National Health Service research, the study is subject to strict ethical and legal controls, with an opt out option available for individuals who do not wish to have their data used as part of the study.