Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions on national security considerations relating to biological data with (a) Genomics England, (b) UK Biobank and (c) NIHR Bioresource.

Through the delivery of the UK Biological Security Strategy, the Government is committed ensuring the UK is resilient to a spectrum of biological threats, as well as being a world leader in innovation. As part of this Strategy, the Government is undertaking a programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world.

The Government is actively engaging with Genomics England, UK Biobank, NIHR Bioresource and Our Future Health to build the security and resilience of our genome banks.