Call for evidence outcome

Call for evidence outcome: National TB Action Plan 2026 to 2031

Updated 9 October 2025

Introduction

Since 2021, the tuberculosis (TB) landscape in England has changed and TB incidence is on the rise. This is in common with many other countries who have seen a reverse in decline in TB incidence following the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, and changes in global migration patterns. 

The number of people and rate of TB (per 100,000 people) now stands above the levels seen before the COVID -19 pandemic and the annual increase in 2024 is the largest in the current reporting period (1971 to 2024). However, recent estimates for 2024 (9.4 per 100,000) are still below the peak this century, in 2011 (15.6 per 100,000).  

The government is currently developing the next 5-year national TB action plan. This national action plan (NAP) will follow on from the current Tuberculosis action plan for England, published in 2021.  

The aim of the next tuberculosis action plan is to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB in England. The NAP will focus on the needs of those affected by TB, and TB-related services, while recognising the need to prioritise the interventions that are most effective in addressing the increase in people living in England with TB. 

In April 2025, the government launched a call for evidence on TB to inform the development the national TB action plan 2026 to 2031. In addition to this call for evidence, the government is consulting with a wide range of stakeholders from across and beyond government to inform the NAP’s development. 

The call for evidence was open from 2 April to 27 May 2025. 193 responses were received from a range of TB clinical and academic experts, service providers, third sector organisations and people with lived experience. 14 responses were submitted directly to UKHSA, not using the online survey platform, and are therefore missing some demographic information.  

This report summarises the call for evidence responses, organised by each question in the survey. A thematic analysis was undertaken to assess qualitative responses. This analysis was conducted with the assistance of an artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) and manually reviewed by TB subject matter experts within UKHSA (see Appendix 1 for full methodology).

Demographic questions

The following questions categorise respondents by their role or organisation. Note that due to the demographic questions being multiselect, some of the demographic charts include higher counts than the total number of respondents. 

Which of the following best describes how you are responding to the Call for Evidence?

Figure 1a: capacity in which respondents answered the survey

Which of the following best describes your area of work?

Figure 1b: respondent’s sector of work

Where does your organisation operate or provide services?

Figure 1c: areas in which respondent’s service operated

Which best describes your organisation?

Figure 1d: description of respondent’s organisation

Demographic question: Results

These charts illustrate that responses were received from a range of individuals and organisations from the health service delivery, research or education, private or the charity and volunteer sectors. Nearly 90% of responses were submitted by individuals operating in a professional capacity or on the behalf of an organisation. 60% of respondents work in or were representing an NHS or health service delivery organisation, primarily operating in England. The other sectors and geographic areas were lesser represented.

Consultation questions

The call for evidence consisted of 4 consultation questions. These questions sought to capture evidence on stakeholder views on achievements of the current NAP, the greatest challenges to TB control and priorities for the next NAP.

Main achievements

Since the publication of the current NAP in 2021, the government has made progress in implementing new capabilities and tools for improving the future of TB control. The first question in the call for evidence explored which of these achievements were most important to respondents and why.

Question 1: Which of the achievements of the current Tuberculosis action plan for England (Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England - GOV.UK) are the most important to prioritise and build upon in the next TB national action plan?

Select up to 3

• improved the quality, accessibility, and insights on TB data and trends of real-time data published in quarterly reports, enhanced analysis in the Annual TB Report and local TB epidemiological data available on Fingertips

• publication of a toolkit for tackling TB in inclusion health groups
• publication of the Getting it Right the First Time (GIRFT) National TB report
• improved surveillance through the roll out of the National TB Surveillance System (NTBS)
• supported the TB nursing workforce through increased engagement
• enhanced contact tracing capabilities through technology including Whole Genome Sequencing
• developed a TB Communications toolkit

Please insert supporting evidence where possible.

Figure 2: respondent’s views on priority achievements of the current TB action plan

The 3 most important achievements to build upon selected by respondents were supporting the TB nursing workforce, improving the quality, accessibility, and insights on TB surveillance data and enhancing contact tracing capabilities through technology including Whole Genome Sequencing. These were closely followed by the roll out of NTBS, a toolkit for TB in inclusion health groups and publication of the GIRFT report.

This shows that respondents view ongoing support for the TB nursing workforce as a priority for inclusion in the next NAP. Responses indicate a strong consensus that TB nurses are central to TB control and, as one respondent wrote, “understand the everyday realities and challenges of TB prevention and care”. Improving workforce capacity, recruitment and training is believed to “build system resilience” and “boost the overall impact of TB control”.

Respondents also emphasised that continuing to improve data quality and accessibility will enable the development of “more targeted and effective interventions in TB control”. Improving TB data also enables “prioritisation of important populations”, “reveals disparities and inequalities” and “helps us understand the specific needs of different groups”. Some respondents noted that improving access to real-time, local service data would be particularly impactful in allowing TB services to “monitor local trends” and “identify what resources are needed to run services accordingly”.

Other findings include:

• contact tracing – contact tracing capabilities (including Whole Genome Sequencing) are beneficial in improving transmission and population monitoring and could be expanded
• disease awareness – a significant lack of understanding about TB disease transmission, prevention and control amongst the public and healthcare professionals – it is important to improve public and healthcare worker education and awareness of TB
• National TB Surveillance System – NTBS was consistently noted for its importance in monitoring and tracking TB cases, though respondents feel it is sometimes “under utilised” and clinical staff do not always have time to complete the notification
• Getting it Right the First Time – the GIRFT report is generally seen as having significant potential for improving TB services – for example, one respondent wrote,
  “The GIRFT report has captured what does and doesn’t work well in TB services. It is up to date and contains important recommendations that need to be implemented if England or the UK wants to effectively manage TB.”
  Effective implementation of the recommendations is considered a “vital” part of the next NAP
• funding and investment – in general, respondents felt that more investment in all of these priority areas is required for improving TB control

Current challenges

Since the publication of the NAP in 2021, the scale and nature of the TB burden in England has changed. This question aimed to gather stakeholder perspectives on the current challenges in TB control in England, in order to identify priority areas in the next NAP.

Question 2: What are the current challenges to TB control, detection and prevention in England? Please insert supportive evidence where possible.

Figure 3. Theme count of current challenges

The challenges most frequently described by respondents revolved around disease detection and diagnosis. This included:

• diagnostic limitations: inadequate or delayed diagnostic capabilities, including access to diagnostic tests and results
• diagnostic delays: delays or inefficiencies in TB diagnosis or testing, including laboratory processing times
• disease complexity: increasing complexity of TB cases, including latent TB, drug resistant TB and co-morbidities
• treatment challenges: difficulties in treating active TB and latent TB effectively due to medication shortages

The second major challenge identified was the TB workforce. This was described as challenges with the availability and capacity of healthcare staff, including recruitment, training and retention.

Respondents also reported various challenges related to the social determinants of health. This included barriers to healthcare access, socioeconomic considerations (such as housing, poverty, nutrition), individuals with no recourse to public funds and challenges with marginalisation and social stigma towards individuals with TB. For example, one response described how stigma was revealed as “one of the major factors contributing to delay in diagnosis” in engagement work in health and justice settings.

These findings suggest that improving disease detection and diagnostic capabilities, workforce development and supporting those with social risk factors should be prioritised in the next NAP. Additional challenges identified by respondents included:

• prevention and control: lack of resource and reach of the current new entrant Latent TB Infection (LTBI) screening programme

The NHSE LTBI programme in 26 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) is in place to test and treat migrants who have entered the UK from high incidence countries in the last 5 years. As people who test positive for LTBI are at risk of developing active TB, the testing and treatment of newly arrived migrants can have a large impact on TB control and elimination. Coverage is limited by available programmatic funding.

• disease awareness and education: lack of awareness of TB symptoms amongst the public and healthcare professionals
• funding and investment: limited investment in a range of TB control activities including for “healthcare workers and TB services”, “migrant screening programmes” and “R and D for drugs, vaccines and diagnostics”
• external factors: the impact of migration and population change, COVID-19 and geographic disparities across regions
• governance and leadership: lack of clarity on TB leadership and accountability structures - current structures were described as “unclear” and “ineffective”
• surveillance and data: difficulties in identifying individuals most at risk of latent TB
• innovation and technology: services relying on out-of-date technologies
• patient centricity and support: lack of workforce results in barriers to patient-centred care
• collaboration and partnerships: complexity of working across multiple sectors to address TB, including health, social care and education

Going further

The NAP 2021 to 2026 focused on 5 main priorities:

1. Recovery from COVID-19
2. Prevent TB
3. Detect TB
4. Control TB disease
5. Workforce

This next question sought to understand how the government could strengthen its efforts in the NAP 2026 to 2031 to improve TB control in England.

Question 3: How should the government go further to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB in England? Please insert supporting evidence of good practice and effective action for specific population groups, using measurable outcomes and indicators.

Figure 4. Theme count on how the government can go further

The top 3 most frequent categories described in responses were prevention and control, disease detection and diagnosis and funding and investment. These were closely followed by social determinants of health, workforce, disease awareness and education and governance and leadership. These findings are consistent with responses to the previous 2 questions.

When answering this question, the biggest priority among respondents (34%) was to improve screening programmes targeted at high-risk groups. This was most recommended to be within migrant and new-entrant populations. According to the 2024 TB Annual Report, non-UK born individuals account for 80% of active TB notifications in 2023. It’s clear that increasing screening efforts within this group is a priority for respondents. Health and social care workers and individuals in prisons and places of detention were also frequently mentioned as groups where increased screening efforts are needed.

Disease awareness and reducing stigma or misconceptions were featured in 27% of responses. Recommendations ranged from “distribution of leaflets in several languages”, “normalising TB via simple and accessible language” and “work with local religious centres and charities” to “strengthen engagement through national awareness schemes and national media campaigns”. The need to use co-production and community engagement to develop these resources was emphasised.

A quarter of responses described the need to improve diagnostic and treatment capabilities. “Access to rapid molecular diagnostic tools need to be made available to all services” and “Ensure access to essential TB medication and reduce drug stockouts / supply interruptions” were common recommendations.

A few responses mentioned the use of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against TB, with some suggesting widespread implementation of the vaccine. This demonstrates a lack of understanding of the BCG vaccine efficacy and use as a control measure, which will be important for the NAP to address. There is few data on the protection afforded by the BCG vaccine when given to adults (aged 16 years and above) and virtually no data for persons aged 35 years and above. BCG is therefore not usually recommended for people age over 16 years, unless the risk of exposure is great.

Other issues

This final question provided an opportunity for respondents to submit any additional evidence they thought to be relevant to the development of the NAP.

Question 4: Is there anything else you want to tell the government about the next 5-year national action plan for TB?

When answering this question, respondents cited several common themes. For this NAP to be impactful, responses indicated the need for greater political commitment and adequate funding. Many highlighted that a “cross-governmental approach is needed” and “TB is not just an infectious disease, it is a social disease”.  The NAP should also “align with the WHO Multisectoral Accountability Framework”. Some expressed the importance of using this opportunity to reinforce the UK’s leadership in global health, investing in TB eradication efforts as other countries move away.

Other common responses described the economic case for investing in TB, the need for updated national guidance and re-emphasised the importance of prioritising the TB workforce as, without which, “all other endeavours will not be implementable”.

There was an overall willingness from respondents to continue engaging with the government in the development and implementation of the next NAP.

Other evidence

A number of respondents chose to submit additional evidence outside of the survey. This included a range of published and unpublished data from local, regional and national levels. Examples include case studies on the current LTBI screening programme, community engagement research in prison settings, outbreak reports and expert letters on post-TB morbidity or social care teams.

More detail on the other evidence submitted is in Appendix 2. This evidence will be considered alongside survey responses in NAP development.

Conclusions

This Call for Evidence gathered insights from a diverse group of stakeholders, with the majority representing professional and organisational perspectives within the health and care sectors. Respondents highlighted achievements under the current NAP, while describing their views on the current challenges and priorities for improving TB control in England. These included:

Workforce

A strong and supported TB workforce is seen as fundamental to the success of all other efforts. Respondents consistently emphasised the need for better recruitment, training, and retention, recognising TB nurses and clinical teams as central to prevention, detection and care.

Prevention

Strengthening prevention efforts emerged as a clear priority, with respondents calling for expanded latent TB screening among high-risk groups, especially migrants and people in prisons or places of detention. There was strong support for greater investment in public education and community engagement to raise awareness and reduce stigma of TB disease.

Detect

Timely and accurate diagnosis remains an important challenge. Respondents highlighted the need to improve access to rapid diagnostic tools, reduce laboratory delays and ensure consistent use of surveillance systems. Better data was seen as crucial for identifying at-risk groups and tailoring local responses.

Control

Effective TB control depends on sustained investment in infrastructure (including workforce), improved contact tracing and addressing the social factors that influence the spread of disease, such as housing, poverty and access to care. Clearer governance and better cross-sector coordination were also identified as areas for improvement.

Acknowledgement

Three respondents to the call for evidence indicated they have personal lived experience of TB (see Appendix 1). However, this was not explicitly surveyed, and additional respondents may also fall into this category. This indicates that it is important to continue to meaningfully engage with people with lived experience of TB disease throughout NAP development.

It is also recognised that the respondents to this survey are not a fully representative group of TB stakeholders. This call for evidence required digital fluency, internet access and English-language comprehension to complete. Additional forums for patient and public engagement will be undertaken, offering a range of accessibility options.

Next steps

Any positions expressed do not necessarily represent current or future government policy. Findings from this call for evidence, alongside other evidence collected through the NAP development process, will be used to determine the likely effectiveness of TB policy options under consideration and where the focus of the next NAP should be.

The 2026 to 2031 national TB action plan will continue to be developed in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders across different sectors. It will build upon the achievements of the 2021 NAP, while recognising the TB landscape has changed and ambitious action will be needed to reduce the trend of TB incidence rates in England.

The 2026 to 2031 NAP will be published in 2026, subject to ministerial agreement across UK government.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Methodology

193 responses were received as part of the call for evidence between 2 April to 27 May 2025.  Across 4 open-ended questions included in the call for evidence, there were 572 open-text responses in total:

• 127 responses describing the most important achievements of the current tuberculosis action plan for England
• 167 responses outlining the current challenges to TB control, detection, and prevention
• 161 responses advising how government could improve these areas
• 117 responses including anything else respondents wanted to include

An internal tool was used to assist with the thematic analysis using a large language model (LLM) (Llama 3.3.). This tool emulates the approach used in manual thematic analysis, to tag each response with generated low-level codes, followed by subthemes and broader themes to allow descriptive analysis of theme counts. Prompts were generated for each question to improve the accuracy of codes and themes assigned.

Manual quality assurance (QA) was conducted at each stage to review the LLM’s output. At coding stage, each response and assigned codes were reviewed by research and technical experts to ensure accuracy. At theme generation stage, manual review was conducted by four technical and clinical experts to check that generated broader themes were appropriate and reflected the different themes seen in the data at coding stage. When mapping low level codes to high-level themes, manual QA was again conducted to ensure that the LLM had accurately assigned these.

Descriptive analysis of results was then conducted following careful data cleaning. Steps were implemented to prevent double counting, such as identifying and removing instances where themes or subthemes had been mentioned multiple times by the same individual within a single question. This ensured that each respondent’s contributions were represented accurately, and that theme counts provided a true reflection of the data. The descriptive analysis also underwent a thorough quality assurance process to ensure its accuracy and reliability.

Number of respondents with lived experience of TB was determined by searching through the dataset for where the following words were said in the original response:

filter_row_themes = [

    ‘Personal’,

    ‘Personal experience’,

    ‘personal’,

    ‘own experience’,

    ‘former’,

    ‘my family’,

    ‘my daughter’,

    ‘my son’,

    ‘my father’,

    ‘my mother’,

    ‘my friend’,

    ‘my friends’,

    ‘my siblings’,

    ‘story’,

    ‘perspective’,

    ‘my experience’,

    ‘lived experience’,

    ‘lived’,

    ‘my parents’,

    ‘my children’,

    ‘journey’,

    ‘background’

    ]

Appendix 2: Other evidence results

Other evidence submitted was reviewed manually by four technical and clinical experts. The submissions are grouped into the following 5 themes:

Case management, treatment support and access

• enhanced case management (ECM) case study
• an evaluation of ECM in a London TB service
• study on directly observed therapy (DOT) vs. video-observed therapy (VOT)
• a ‘letter to the editor’ on improved TB treatment completion through social care
• study on determinants of loss to follow up in adult TB cases in NW England
• a National Health Advisors report on reaching individuals not registered with the healthcare system and barriers to access
• a report on language discordance between TB patients and healthcare providers

TB in prisons and other places of detention

• a poster on a TB awareness raising campaign through National Prison Radio
• rapid systematic review of LTBI and active TB case finding in prisons and places of detention
• a review of TB outbreaks and clusters in prisons
• a report on incidence and management of TB in prisons
• summary of community engagement work on TB in secure settings
• expert group recommendation letter for improving the management of tuberculosis in prisons and other places of detention

Latent TB Infection and Diagnosis

• LTBI screening programme case studies from three UK TB networks
• a brochure on a diagnostic tool for LTBI
• a study on a tool for diagnostic certainty of TB during cohort review
• case study on changing burden of TB in a low incidence TB area

Surveillance, monitoring and epidemiology

• report on population level frequency of fluoroquinolone resistance using WGS
• a study on TB incident management for non-household contacts in a large clinical network
• epidemiology and outbreak reports from Public Health Wales
• a London TB Service outreach referral data from 2018 to 2025

Policy, strategy and recommendations

• a letter from TB researchers recommending inclusion of routine national data collection of post-TB morbidity in the next NAP
• report on multipronged action proposed for TB control
• DHSC and NHSE Medicine Supply Notification on shortages of TB medicines
• biotechnology company white paper on TB eradication

Appendix 3: Call for Evidence survey

Tuberculosis National Action Plan 2026 to 2031: Call for Evidence and Prioritisation

Introduction

Since 2021, the TB landscape in England has changed and TB incidence is increasing in England. This is in common with many other countries who have seen a reverse in decline in TB incidence following the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

The number of people and rate of TB (per 100,000 people) now stands above the levels seen before the COVID -19 pandemic and the annual increase in 2023 is the largest in the current reporting period (1971 to 2023). However, provisional rates for 2024 (9.5 per 100,000 or 5,480 people) are still below the peak this century, in 2011 (15.6 per 100,000).

The aim of the next tuberculosis (TB) action plan for 2026 to 2031 is to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB in England. The national action plan will focus on the needs of those affected by TB, and TB services, while recognising the need to prioritise the interventions that are most effective in addressing the increase in people living in England with TB.

Background to this call for evidence

The government is developing the next 5-year TB national action plan. This action plan aims to improve the detection, prevention and control of TB.

This national action plan will follow on from the current Tuberculosis action plan for England, published in 2021.  An addendum to the national action plan will be published to reflect progress made during the national action plan’s lifecycle.

This call for evidence has been launched to inform the development of the next 5-year national action plan, which will run from 2026 until 2031. Rather than a formal consultation on specific proposals, it’s a request for ideas and evidence on which we can build.

We encourage input from technical experts and those with lived experiences (including on TB prevention and care, public health, epidemiology, health systems, surveillance, and civil society) on this call for evidence.

In addition to this call for evidence, we are consulting with a wide range of stakeholders across and beyond government to inform the national action plan’s development.

How to respond

You can respond as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation by completing the online survey.

Alternatively, you can respond by email tbcallforevidence@ukhsa.gov.uk

Submissions of evidence from all interested parties are invited as part of the government’s process to inform the development of the next TB national action plan. You should note that any positions expressed do not necessarily represent current or future England policy.

The deadline for responses to this call for evidence is 2 May 2025.

Evidence

The Call for Evidence asks for respondents to provide evidence for their responses. Both qualitative and quantitative pieces are suitable. Examples of evidence we wish to collect include:

• service evaluations
• qualitative assessments of models of care and barriers to care access
• economic modelling and analyses, including micro-costing studies
• lived experiences
• studies highlighting gaps in services, prevalence data etc.

Examples of effective action and markers of success at a local, national and international level are encouraged.

Next Steps

The evidence gathered through this exercise will inform the TB National Action Plan for 2026 to 2031. This is the first stage in a broad process; the findings from this call for evidence will inform further in-depth engagement with stakeholders.

Findings from the call for evidence will be collated into a Summary of Evidence report, to be published on GOV.UK.

About you

1. Which of the following best describes how you are responding to the Call for Evidence?

• An individual sharing my personal views and experiences

• An individual sharing my professional views

• On behalf of an organisation

2. Name (optional): 3. Email Address (optional):

As part of this survey, there are 2 reasons why we may need your email address:

• if you need to contact us about amending or deleting your response, the only way we can verify that it is your response is using your email address
• if our policy team have a follow-up question to ask you, we can contact you

Questions for individuals sharing their professional views

1. Which of the following best describes your area of work? (optional). If you are answering on behalf of an organisation, please skip this question.

• NHS or heath service delivery

• Other public sector

• Charity or voluntary sector

• Private sector

• None of the above

Questions for Organisations

1. What is the name of your organisation? (optional):
2. Where does your organisation operate or provide services? (optional)

• England

• Wales

• Scotland

• Northern Ireland

• The whole of the UK

• Outside of the UK

• Not Applicable

3. Which best describes your organisation? (optional)

• An organisation in the life science sector

• A provider of goods or services to the NHS

• Other private sector organisation

• An NHS organisation

• Research or education

• Other public sector organisation

• An organisation representing patients, the public or carers

• Other voluntary sector organisation

• Not Applicable

Consultation questions

Learning from previous action to reduce TB

Question 1:

We recognise the nature and scale of the TB burden has changed since 2021, as outlined by the Tuberculosis in England: national quarterly reports.

Which of the achievements of current Tuberculosis action plan for England (Tuberculosis (TB): action plan for England are the most important to prioritise and build upon in the next TB national action plan?

Select up to 3

• improved the quality, accessibility, and insights on TB data and trends of real-time data published in quarterly reports, enhanced analysis in the Annual TB Report and local TB epidemiological data available on Fingertips

• publication of a toolkit for tackling TB in inclusion health groups

• publication of the Getting it Right the First Time (GIRFT) National TB report

• improved surveillance through the roll out of the National TB Surveillance System

• supported the TB nursing workforce through increased engagement

• enhanced contact tracing capabilities through technology including Whole Genome Sequencing

• developed a TB Communications toolkit

Please insert supporting evidence where possible [250 words max].

Question 2:

What are the current challenges to TB control, detection and prevention in England? Please insert supportive evidence where possible [250 words max].

In 2021, UKHSA and NHSE published the current joint national action plan for England. This focused on 5 main priorities:

1. Recovery from COVID-19
2. Prevent TB
3. Detect TB
4. Control TB disease
5. Workforce

Question 3:

How should the government go further to improve the prevention, detection and control of TB in England? Please insert supporting evidence of good practice and effective action for specific population groups, using measurable outcomes and indicators [250 words max].

Question 4:

Is there anything else you want to tell the government about the next 5-year national action plan for TB? [250 words max]

Question 5:

Can we contact you?

• yes

• no

Data protection

From 3 April to 1 May 2025, UKHSA will seek the views of individuals and organisations through a call for evidence, to inform the next 5-year national action plan for TB, in England. This notice sets out how data collected through this call for evidence will be used and protected.

Data controller

UKHSA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care. DHSC is the data controller for the personal data we collect and use to fulfil our remit.

You can find out more about the personal data processed by UKHSA in our general privacy notice.

What personal data we collect

You can respond to the call for evidence through our public survey, which can be completed online, or on paper and submitted by email.

We will collect data on:

• whether you are responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation
• your area of work

If volunteered by you, we will also collect data on:

• your email address (if completing a paper survey and submitting it by email, or if responding on behalf of an organisation and confirming that UKHSA can contact you about your response)
• any other personal data you volunteer by way of evidence or example in your response to open-ended questions in the survey

How we use your data (purposes)

Your data will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

We collect your personal data as part of the call for evidence process:

• for statistical purposes
• so that UKHSA can contact you for further information about your response (if you are responding on behalf of an organisation and have given your consent)

Legal basis for processing personal data

The legal basis for processing your personal data is to perform a task carried out in the public interest, that of consulting the public.

Data processors and other recipients of personal data

All responses to the call for evidence will be seen by professional analysts and policy leads working on the development of the new national action plan in UKHSA.

UKHSA may also share your responses with:

• individuals supporting this project within DHSC, DHSC’s executive agencies or executive non-departmental public bodies, such as NHS England
• other government departments.
• external researchers if additional support is required to analyse the responses received

International data transfers and storage locations

Storage of data by UKHSA is mainly in the UK and only in other countries, where necessary, if they are formally recognised by the UK government as providing legal protections over privacy at least equivalent to the those that apply here in the UK, such as the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Retention and disposal policy

UKHSA will only retain your personal data for as long as it is needed for the purposes of the call for evidence.

This means that personal data will be held by UKHSA for a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 8 years.

Data retention will be reviewed on an annual basis. Anonymised data will be kept indefinitely.

How we keep your data secure

UKHSA has put in place a range of organisational processes and technical security measures to protect any information we hold from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.

Your rights as a data subject

Under data protection law, you have several rights over your personal information. You have the right to:

• see what data we hold about you (this is known as a ‘right of access request’)
• ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record
• have some or all of your data deleted
• have some of your data corrected
• lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law

Comments or complaints

If you have any concerns about how we use and protect your personal information, you can contact the Department of Health and Social Care’s Data Protection Officer at data_protection@dhsc.gov.uk or by writing to:

Office of the Data Protection Officer
 Department of Health and Social Care
 1st Floor North
 39 Victoria Street
 London SW1H 0EU

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office if you have any concerns about how we use and protect your personal information. You can do so by calling the ICO’s helpline on 0303 123 1113, visiting the ICO’s website at www.ico.org.uk or writing to the ICO at:

Customer Contact
 Information Commissioner’s Office
 Wycliffe House
 Water Lane
 Wilmslow
 SK9 5AF

Note: if you are replying via email, your email information will be automatically collected.