Policy paper

Annex C: public and parliamentary accountability protocol

Published 25 August 2022

This protocol sets the standards to which NHS Digital should aim in its relationship with Parliament and public, to secure the confidence of the public and Parliament and to maintain the service levels that MPs and the public have come to expect. It is essential that ministers, MPs, peers and the public alike have confidence in the health and social care system. This protocol will be reviewed annually as part of the review of the framework agreement.

This protocol sets out how DHSC and NHS Digital work together to secure the confidence of the public and Parliament and to maintain the service levels that MPs and the public have come to expect. It is essential that ministers, MPs, peers and the public alike have confidence in the health and social care system.

The protocol covers:

• oral and written Parliamentary questions (PQs)
• Parliamentary debates
• select committee inquiries
• correspondence from MPs direct to NHS Digital
• correspondence from MPs to DHSC about NHS Digital’s responsibilities
• meeting requests from MPs to DHSC ministers
• meeting requests from MPs to NHS Digital officials
• correspondence and telephone calls from members of the public
• FOI requests
• data protection requests
• complaints and whistleblowing

1. Purpose

This is an agreement between DHSC and NHS Digital. It is intended to help organisations:

• meet their respective public and Parliamentary responsibilities
• work out their operational needs
• understand their own and respective organisations’ role and independence
• develop and strengthen collaborative partnership working
• secure the confidence of the public, MPs and peers

2. Working together

Both organisations agree to work together to ensure that, where reasonable, a consistent message is given, thereby securing the confidence of the public, ministers, MPs and peers alike. In doing so, DHSC and NHS Digital will:

• share information about topics of interest to the public or the media
• share information about sensitive or contentious issues
• advise each other of changes in strategic direction or policy

3. Quality, consistency and performance standards

DHSC and NHS Digital have agreed to establish and maintain robust arrangements that support public and Parliamentary accountability across the health and social care structure.

NHS Digital and DHSC have put in place named contacts, adequate resources and robust processes to deal with the handling of public enquiries, correspondence, Parliamentary questions (PQs) and all other types of Parliamentary business, FOI requests and complaints in line with ministerial and Parliamentary expectations and timescales.

DHSC and NHS Digital will work collaboratively to ensure that both quality and performance standards are maintained.

DHSC will:

• send clear, unambiguous commissions for information to support answers to PQs and briefing, allowing as much time as possible within Parliamentary and other timescales for NHS Digital to provide the information required, and to allow ministers time to consider and meet their obligations to Parliament
• ensure an appropriate level of oversight is applied to NHS Digital responses on PQs and ministerial correspondence contributions sent to DHSC and support NHS Digital in establishing quality assurance and appropriate senior level clearance arrangements
• provide advice (as required) on FOI matters; and discuss and agree public and Parliamentary accountability performance standards which are realistic and achievable for NHS Digital

NHS Digital will:

• provide contributions to answers to PQs, briefing and correspondence so that ministers can meet their obligations to Parliament and under the Ministerial Code. The information will be timely, comprehensive, accurate, and truthful, and address meaningfully the question or issue raised
• build capacity and capability to ensure that correspondence contributions, briefing and PQ replies are fit for purpose and meet DHSC’s quality and timeliness standards, and which answer the points raised
• ensure that FOI responses meet the requirements of FOI legislation on timeliness and provision of information

In addition, to embrace the government’s commitment to openness and transparency:

• ensure that responses to requests made and issues raised under data protection legislation are handled in a timely and appropriate way in line with the requirements of the legislation and good information privacy standards
• ensure sufficient resources and arrangements for quality assurance and senior level clearance are available to provide accurate briefing, information for PQs, and correspondence contributions within the deadlines agreed with DHSC, for everything within NHS Digital’s area of responsibility
• allocate sufficient resource to ensure that FOI requests are responded to within the standard time set by NHS Digital and in line with legislation
• allocate sufficient resource to ensure that Data Protection Act (DPA) requests are responded to within the set standard by NHS Digital and in line with legislation
• ensure arrangements are in place to respond to telephone enquiries from MPs and members of the public

Usually, the relevant policy team in DHSC will have responsibility for approaching NHS Digital with a request for data. The Digital Oversight Team may liaise directly with NHS Digital in supporting Parliament and public business, and on occasion have responsibility for a specific commission, where an area lacks a clear policy lead in DHSC (unofficially known as ‘orphan’ areas). The team can help with relationships between NHS Digital and policy teams in DHSC and should be the first port of call where NHS Digital has concerns or there are other issues, for example, relating to a commission. The Digital Oversight Team will act to ensure that DHSC policy colleagues conform to the principles in this protocol.

4. Multi-issue areas

Responses to issues that span more than one ALB, where there is no obvious lead ALB, should be coordinated by the most appropriate policy team in DHSC or the Digital Oversight team. If a PQ requires a contribution from several ALBs it is up to the policy area to co-ordinate contribution requests from the different organisations, and to ensure that there is no duplication. This will be determined on a case by case basis depending on the issue raised.

Some requests for information for PQs, debates etc. may be received from colleagues in the joint unit between DHSC and NHSE Transformation Directorate. These should be treated in the same way as a request from DHSC. In any case of uncertainty NHS Digital should discuss with the Digital Oversight team.

This public and Parliamentary accountability protocol and its arrangements will be monitored through the quarterly accountability meetings between DHSC and NHS Digital.

5. Parliamentary accountability

This will involve responsibilities around a number of Parliamentary accountability processes, including PQs, correspondence, debates and committee hearings. Ministers are required to respond to debates and PQs etc. and NHS Digital has agreed to provide DHSC with information to support speeches, information for answers and briefing as appropriate to enable ministers to account for NHS Digital. Briefing should include relevant background information in accordance with the commission and be signed off by a senior NHS Digital member of staff.

In order to emphasize organisational responsibilities and accountabilities, ministers will take every opportunity to explain relevant organisational responsibilities and encourage MPs and peers to liaise directly with NHS Digital on matters for which it has responsibility. DHSC has agreed to give sufficient notice of requests and provide timely responses in order to meet Parliamentary deadlines. The process for this is set out below.

6. Oral questions and debates

The appropriate policy team in DHSC will alert NHS Digital to the oral question or debate as early as possible. The commission will be clear and provide a steer on what should be included.

NHS Digital will provide accurate information (and background where appropriate), in the format required by the deadline agreed with DHSC whenever possible. The expectation, depending on subject, is that wherever possible NHS Digital has at least 24 hours to provide a contribution to an Oral PQ answer, although it should be accepted that ministers set briefing deadlines which can mean briefing is sometimes required within 24 hours.

7. Written questions concerning matters within the responsibility of NHS Digital

DHSC will alert NHS Digital to the question as early as possible on the day of receipt and seek information to support a full answer and relevant background material for the minister to consider. The general approach is that answers need to be substantive, even if couched in terms of ‘NHS Digital has advised that…’.

NHS Digital will provide information to the required standard within the deadlines agreed with the team commissioning the information. Wherever possible NHS Digital should be given at least 24 hours to provide information in respect of a named day PQ, and at least 36 hours to provide information for an ordinary written or a Lords written question.

8. Parliamentary Questions

Answering PQs is a critically important part of DHSC’s public accountability for the NHS, a role that only DHSC can undertake. This activity therefore plays a major role in the communication and reputation management agendas for both DHSC and the NHS.

Parliament is responsible for initial DHSC allocation and ministerial approval of PQs. The daily PQ list from Parliamentary is sent directly to NHS Digital for planning and time management purposes only.

NHS Digital is responsible for providing timely and accurate contributions to PQs where approached by DHSC, covering not only the provision of relevant information when that is held by the organisation but also rapid feedback on non-availability and, where possible, indications of alternative sources. NHS Digital may occasionally choose to obtain information from secondary sources such as NHS Prescribing Services of the NHS Business Services Authority.

DHSC policy leads are responsible for commissioning contributions from NHS Digital and ensuring that NHS Digital’s contribution is incorporated into an accurate response that includes all the relevant caveats and notes.

The Digital Oversight team may commission contributions from NHS Digital, where there is no clear policy lead in DHSC.

9. Specific Responsibilities

All contributions to PQs will be commissioned by the appropriate DHSC policy lead as soon as possible, avoiding unnecessary delays. All PQs must be sent to NHS Digital’s PQ mailbox, pq@nhsdigital.nhs.uk which is managed by the NHS Digital contact centre. The minimum requirements are that all requests:

• are sent by the appropriate policy lead to the mailbox

• have one PQ per email with the phone number of the policy lead

• specify the email address to which the contribution to be sent to

• provide the full PQ content and reference number in the body of the email

• put the unique PQ reference number in the subject line of the email

• include any additional information which will help inform NHS Digital’s contribution to the PQ, for example by setting out proposed structure of the reply, including where possible the generic type (if not the specific instance) of information that would fulfil the requirements of the reply; or by setting out which health geographies to apply, or any special data formatting requests. Commissioning emails could also usefully indicate if there is a contact in NHS Digital who would be best placed to provide a contribution

• state clearly the deadline (date and time) for the contribution to be returned to the DHSC policy lead

PQs sent to NHS Digital by any other route will be returned requesting that they are sent directly to the contact centre (pq@nhsdigital.nhs.uk) for initiation of the contribution preparation process. DHSC should not separately commission contributions directly from individuals within NHS Digital, to avoid duplication or confusion.

The Digital Oversight Team can advise if there is any issue relating to a request for a PQ contribution, and if necessary, liaise with the DHSC policy team.

DHSC policy leads should aim to allocate PQs to NHS Digital by noon on the day of receipt. For:

• Commons Ordinary Written and Lords Written PQs the usual deadline will be for reply by 5pm the following day
• Commons Named Days the usual deadline will be for 5pm on the day of receipt

Exceptions should be expected, but wherever possible these will be kept to a minimum.

9.1 Deadlines for Parliamentary questions

Type of Parliamentary question	Deadline
DHSC policy lead to commission contribution from NHS Digital	12 midday on day of receipt
Commons Named Day PQs for return by	5pm on day of receipt
Ordinary Written PQs for return by	5pm the following day
Lords Written PQs for return by	5pm the following day

There will be some occasions (typically approaching Parliamentary recess or prorogation) when deadlines for all PQs are shortened to 24 hours; NHS Digital should aim to respond appropriately on these occasions.

Ensuring a timely response to a PQ contribution request should take priority over other activities in NHS Digital, and be handled by appropriately skilled, trained and competent staff. All PQs sent to NHS Digital are managed through a quality assurance process that is initiated by NHS Digital’s Contact Centre, includes interim approvals and checking and concludes with Director approval (or Band 8D approval in certain circumstances).

Where NHS Digital does not hold the required data but another organisation may, NHS Digital will endeavour to return these PQs to the DHSC policy lead as quickly as possible for reallocation. Where appropriate, NHS Digital may decide to seek a contribution from a secondary source.

Where a contribution could take more than one approach NHS Digital will consult with the DHSC policy lead to agree the preferred option before proceeding with the preparation of the contribution. DHSC will always welcome a dialogue about what can and cannot be provided by way of a contribution.

NHS Digital aims to provide all contributions within the deadline. NHS Digital has established internal measures and management processes to help achieve this. Only when necessary will NHS Digital contact the appropriate policy lead to discuss extending deadlines. For Named Day PQs a brief note to the policy lead explaining the reason why a deadline was missed may be requested.

NHS Digital’s contribution to a PQ will be provided in a format that is editable and printable, and that follows the written questions guide. This will include the addition of clear and concise footnotes and explanatory notes. This contribution will be sent to the email address specified by the DHSC policy lead.

If the DHSC policy lead requests NHS Digital to make a material change to a PQ contribution this change must be cleared through NHS Digital’s PQ contribution approval process before it is submitted to Parliament.

Where appropriate, the DHSC policy lead and Parliamentary will provide constructive feedback to NHS Digital that will support a culture of continual improvement. The final version of the PQ will also be shared. There will be regular joint DHSC/NHS Digital management reviews of the PQ process from end to end to provide feedback and identify ways to improve the overall process.

10. Select Committees

Parliamentary Select Committees will often require written or oral evidence from DHSC ministers or officials and from NHS Digital witnesses. DHSC and NHS Digital will work closely together to keep each other informed when inquiries are notified to ensure that policy leads in both organisations can work together effectively on joint written evidence, briefing and responses to meet the clearance requirements of both organisations, including ministerial clearance, and to meet strict Parliamentary deadlines. Coordinators for both organisations will ensure that comprehensive information from across DHSC and NHS Digital is provided and aligned for consistency, while allowing for the different perspectives, roles and responsibilities of DHSC and NHS Digital to be presented where appropriate. DHSC and NHS Digital will ensure that any commitments made during committee hearings that relate to the other organisation will be passed on as soon as possible thereafter to ensure timely responses to the committee.

Where a commitment is made at an evidence session to provide further information, this should be done within 5 working days of the hearing. If the information cannot be provided within 5 working days, a letter should be sent from the witness to the Chair explaining the delay, giving an estimate of when the information can be provided, unless it is clearly not appropriate to do so (for example, when a witness promises to send figures which will become available at a later date which is known to the committee).

11. NAO and PAC

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiries supported by National Audit Office (NAO) reports follow a different process from other select committees. In the case of NAO reports, DHSC and NHS Digital will share their individual clearance documents with each other and liaise with each other where relevant on negotiating changes to reports before publication. For government responses to PAC recommendations, which take the form of a Treasury Minute and are subject to strictly prescribed formats and timescales, DHSC and NHS Digital will work closely together to prepare agreed responses, with timely involvement at a sufficiently senior level on both sides to meet Treasury deadlines and to allow time for clearance by DHSC and NHS Digital accounting officers and ministers. DHSC and NHS Digital will take steps to implement those recommendations which are accepted and to report on their progress. The DHSC accounting officer should see on all correspondence between NHS Digital and the PAC.

12. All Party Parliamentary Groups

DHSC and NHS Digital will sometimes be approached to provide briefing, written and oral evidence by All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on specific issues. These groups do not have the formal status of Parliamentary Select Committees but DHSC and NHS Digital may wish to be helpful in providing them with information.

13. Correspondence from MPs sent directly to NHS Digital

This is correspondence addressed to the chair, chief executive or another official in NHS Digital about matters relating to the business of the organisation.

NHS Digital will normally respond directly to the MP. MPs will expect a reply from the person to whom the correspondence was addressed, or someone at the same level. NHS Digital will aim to respond within 18 working days for routine correspondence and 40 working days for complaint cases.

On occasion, MP correspondence may refer to both NHS Digital and DHSC business. When handling such correspondence, NHS Digital should reply answering the enquiries about NHS Digital business, explaining the independence of NHS Digital and recommending that the MP writes to DHSC about the issues relating to it.

14. Correspondence from MPs to DHSC about NHS Digital responsibilities

This is MP correspondence addressed to DHSC ministers or officials, but which relates to the business of NHS Digital. As NHS Digital is not a government department, the DPA prevents DHSC from routinely forwarding correspondence.

It is protocol for a DHSC minister to respond to MP correspondence. When an MP has written to DHSC about an issue which relates solely to NHS Digital’s business, the minister will reply explaining the independence of NHS Digital and signposting the MP to that organisation. There may be occasions when the matter is sensitive, and ministers consider that it is more appropriate to respond fully to the correspondence. In such cases, DHSC will discuss and agree with NHS Digital the most appropriate handling approach. At all times NHS Digital and DHSC will comply with the DPA, sharing personal information only when there is a need to do so.

When a contribution from NHS Digital is required for a ministerial reply, DHSC will aim to request the contribution within 48 hours of receipt of the correspondence. NHS Digital will aim to provide the contribution within 4 working days of the request being received. DHSC may need to negotiate a shorter deadline with NHS Digital in urgent cases such as when a minister asks for a reply to be redrafted. NHS Digital will set in place appropriate senior clearance arrangements to ensure that the contribution is of a good quality and is returned within the stated deadline.

In instances where routine correspondence covers both DHSC and NHS Digital’s responsibilities, the Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries unit within DHSC will reply, addressing the issues it is responsible for and signposting the MP to NHS Digital. At all times DHSC will aim to reply to correspondence within the Whitehall Standard (currently 18 working days).

15. MP meeting requests to DHSC ministers on NHS Digital matters

MP requests for meetings are usually addressed to DHSC ministers. It is normal practice for meeting requests from MPs to be accepted. These requests will continue to be handled by DHSC.

The minister’s private office will consider the request and seek advice from the Digital Oversight Team before responding. DHSC will aim to contact NHS Digital on the day that the notification of the meeting request is received from the minister’s office. DHSC will aim to comply with its Whitehall Standard deadline when responding to the MP (currently 18 working days).

NHS Digital will provide well considered and timely advice on whether or not the minister should accept the meeting request. It will also provide appropriate briefing in advance of the meeting to agreed deadlines and arrange for a relevant senior officer to attend meetings with the minister wherever possible.

16. MP meeting requests to meet NHS Digital officials

These will be requests from MPs to meet directly with officials from NHS Digital. NHS Digital will normally agree to requests from MPs and peers for meetings and will handle these without input from DHSC.

17. Correspondence from members of the public to DHSC about NHS Digital business

The DPA prevents DHSC from routinely forwarding correspondence. Instead, DHSC will respond to the correspondence it receives, explaining the independence of NHS Digital and signposting the correspondent to it. In instances where the correspondence covers both departmental and NHS Digital responsibilities, DHSC will reply with its policy lines and signpost the correspondent to NHS Digital for all matters pertaining to it. At all times, DHSC will aim to comply with the Whitehall Standard target (currently 18 working days).

18. Correspondence from members of the public to NHS Digital

This is correspondence from the public directly to NHS Digital. NHS Digital will respond directly to this correspondence. Where possible, NHS Digital will comply with accepted Whitehall Standard targets but will set its own targets for responding.

If the correspondence covers areas that should rightly be for DHSC to answer, NHS Digital will respond to the correspondence explaining the independence of NHS Digital and signpost them to DHSC.

DHSC will pass on all public correspondence addressed to NHS Digital but delivered erroneously to its Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries unit within 24 hours of receipt. NHS Digital will also put in place similar forwarding arrangements.

19. FOI and DPA requests to NHS Digital

NHS Digital will respond to all FOI and DPA requests submitted to it. As a public authority, NHS Digital has a legal obligation to provide information in response to these requests and is required to have in place an approved publication scheme and restricted access to personal data. Under the DPA and FOI, information is ‘held’ by a public authority if it is held by that authority, or by another person or organisation on behalf of that authority. NHS Digital will also have a duty under the act to provide advice and assistance to people who have made, or propose to make, information requests to the organisation. NHS Digital will also be mindful of the Ministry of Justice guidance on the handling of Papers of a Previous Administration and seek guidance from DHSC when papers relating to a previous administration are being considered for release.

Although NHS Digital must independently handle DPA and FOI requests as a separate organisation, DHSC’s FOI team is willing to provide informal, impartial advice on relevant legislation and duties if requested. However, the decision as to whether a request falls under a relevant exemption or not will remain with NHS Digital.

NHS Digital will make its own forwarding arrangements with the DHSC’s postal service for any DPA or FOI correspondence delivered in error.

NHS Digital will have a nominated ‘qualified person’ in the event of it invoking an exemption under Section 36 of the FOI. A member of the Information Governance Team (IGT) will work closely with the Business Area concerned to ensure a Public Interest Test is completed, which would need approval from the Chief Executive.

In the event of NHS Digital responding to an FOI request with information that it considers relevant or of interest to DHSC, NHS Digital will inform DHSC about the release of that information in sufficient time to prepare appropriate media handling if necessary.

20. FOI and Data Protection (DP) requests to DHSC on NHS Digital matters

FOI requests to DHSC about NHS Digital will be assessed on the basis of whether DHSC holds the information at the time of the request. The standard rules of FOI compliance will apply.

If DHSC holds the information and considers that it does not fall within the scope of an FOI exemption, DHSC will liaise with NHS Digital before releasing any information.

If DHSC does not hold the information but judges that it may be in NHS Digital’s possession under the FOI Act’s duty to assist and advise, DHSC will advise the applicant to contact NHS Digital giving full contact details.

In the event of DHSC responding to an FOI request with information that it considers relevant or of interest to NHS Digital, DHSC will inform NHS Digital before the release of that information and in sufficient time to prepare appropriate media handling if necessary.

If DHSC receives a Data Protection request for access to personal data, or a request to stop processing personal data and DHSC holds the data, it will respond to the request. If DHSC does not hold the data, DHSC will advise the applicant to contact NHS Digital. There will be no onward referral of Data Protection or FOI cases to or from either organisation.

21. Telephone enquiries

NHS Digital will be responsible for establishing its own arrangements to answer its telephone enquiries. DHSC will signpost clearly any caller who wishes to discuss matters which relate solely to NHS Digital.

22. Complaints and Whistleblowing correspondence to DHSC about NHS Digital

DHSC has in place established arrangements for processing the complaints and whistleblowing correspondence it receives about NHS and social care providers and DHSC ALBs. It aims to identify this type of correspondence within 24 hours of receipt and grades them according to their severity. When DHSC receives serious complaints that need immediate action to protect a person’s welfare, it will contact the appropriate organisation to seek immediate intervention.

For all complaints, DHSC will direct the correspondent to the appropriate complaint mechanism.

DHSC will refer anonymised information about whistleblowing cases and the most serious complaints to the appropriate regulatory authority. If serious concerns are raised about the way in which NHS Digital is running its operations (for example, allegations of fraud, governance etc.), this will be handled by the Digital Oversight Team. At all times DHSC will comply with Data Protection legislation, in doing so DHSC will do its utmost to protect an individual’s identity.

23. Complaints to NHS Digital about NHS Digital

NHS Digital and its staff must be aware of the commitments set out in the Statement of Common Purpose, as published in the government’s response to the Mid Staffs enquiry, November 2013, pages 5 to 7.

NHS Digital will have robust policies and processes in place for handling and responding to complaints. NHS Digital will follow best practice in responding to complaints, as set out in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Principles of Good Complaint handling.

If DHSC receives a complaint about NHS Digital, it will either ask the complainant for permission to forward the case to NHS Digital or write to the complainant giving details of how to complain to NHS Digital.

24. Complaints and whistleblowing to NHS Digital about the health and social care system

If NHS Digital receives a complaint about NHS services, or any other part of the health and care system, it will respond (for urgent or serious cases) and/or refer it appropriately. Records should be maintained, and appropriate reports provided to relevant regulatory authorities to inform on-going monitoring and quality improvement.