Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on potential use of NHS numbers as the “consistent identifier" envisaged in the Children’s Well-being and Schools Act 2026.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we are working with the Department for Education to implement a single unique identifier for every child. Pilots are underway and subject to their success, the NHS number will indeed become the single unique identifier for children.