Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 26 October (HL3010) and the statement by the Home Secretary on 23 October about the distortion caused to female crime statistics by the recording of offences by transwomen within this category, what assessment they have made of similar concerns regarding data collection by NHS England.

The Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics will assist in improving the consistency and comparability of healthcare data, improving our understanding of service access and outcomes by protected characteristics. Greater transparency should enable service improvement and assist the National Health Service in meeting its duties under equalities legislation.

The recommendations are based on the views of stakeholders as well as a comprehensive review of available evidence and literature. The report, once published, will be accompanied by further stakeholder engagement, including with groups who do not wish their sex to be redefined. The report recommends recording of sex at birth and collection of data on gender reassignment. The detail of how this recommendation could be implemented will require further stakeholder engagement in due course.