Health and Social Care Bill

Session 2010 - 12
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Health and Social Care Bill

Health and Social Care Bill
Part 9 — Health and adult social care services: information
Chapter 2 — The Health and Social Care Information Centre
257

exercising functions in connection with the provision of such services or care
must, in providing those services or that care, have regard to the code.
264
Information Register
The Information Centre must maintain and publish a register containing
descriptions of the information which has been obtained by virtue of this
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Chapter.
265
Advice or guidance
(1)
The Information Centre—
(a)
may give advice or guidance to any person mentioned in subsection (2)
on any matter relating to the collection, analysis, publication or other
10
dissemination of information, and
(b)
must, if requested to do so by the Secretary of State or the Board, give
advice or guidance on any such matter as may be specified in the
request to—
(i)
the Secretary of State or (as the case may be) the Board;
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(ii)
such other persons as may be specified in the request.
(2)
Those persons are—
(a)
the Secretary of State,
(b)
the Board,
(c)
any person who makes, or is proposing to make, a request under
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section 255,
(d)
any health or social care body, and
(e)
any person (including a devolved authority) who collects, or is
proposing to collect, information which relates to the provision of
health care or adult social care.
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(3)
The Secretary of State must, at least once in any review period, exercise the
power under subsection (1)(b) by requesting the Information Centre to give the
Secretary of State advice about ways in which the burdens relating to the
collection of information imposed on health or social care bodies and other
persons may be minimised.
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(4)
For the purposes of subsection (3) a review period is—
(a)
the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which this section
comes into force, and
(b)
each subsequent period of 3 years.
(5)
A health or social care body to whom advice or guidance is given under this
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section must have regard to the advice or guidance in exercising functions in
connection with the provision of health services or of adult social care in
England.
(6)
A person, other than a public body, who provides health services, or adult
social care in England, pursuant to arrangements made with a public body
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exercising functions in connection with the provision of such services or care
must, in providing those services or that care, have regard to any advice or
guidance given to the person under this section.

Health and Social Care Bill
Part 9 — Health and adult social care services: information
Chapter 2 — The Health and Social Care Information Centre
258

Functions: quality of health and social care information
266
Assessment of quality of information
The Information Centre must from time to time—
(a)
assess the extent to which information it collects pursuant to a direction
under section 254 or a request under 255 meets the information
5
standards published under section 250 (so far as they are applicable),
and
(b)
publish a record of the results of the assessment.
267
Power to establish accreditation scheme
(1)
Regulations may make provision for the establishment and operation of a
10
scheme for the accreditation of information service providers (“the
accreditation scheme”).
(2)
The regulations may provide that the accreditation scheme is to be established
and operated by the Information Centre or such other person as the Secretary
of State may specify in the regulations (the “operator”).
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(3)
The regulations may, in particular, confer power on the operator—
(a)
to establish the procedure for accrediting information service providers
under the scheme,
(b)
to set the criteria to be met by a provider in order to be accredited (“the
accreditation criteria”),
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(c)
to keep an accreditation under the scheme under review, and
(d)
to charge a reasonable fee in respect of an application for accreditation.
(4)
The regulations may make provision requiring the operator—
(a)
to publish details of the scheme, including, in particular, the
accreditation criteria,
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(b)
to provide for the review of a decision to refuse an application for
accreditation, and
(c)
to provide advice to applicants for accreditation with a view to
ensuring that they meet the accreditation criteria.
(5)
In this section “information service provider” means any person other than a
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public body who provides services involving the collection, analysis,
publication or other dissemination of information in connection with the
provision of health services or of adult social care in England.
Functions: other
268
Database of quality indicators
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(1)
Regulations may make provision conferring functions on the Information
Centre in connection with the establishment, maintenance and publication of a
database of quality indicators in relation to the provision of health services and
of adult social care in England.
(2)
The regulations may, in particular, make provision about—
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(a)
the persons who may propose a quality indicator for inclusion in the
database,

Health and Social Care Bill
Part 9 — Health and adult social care services: information
Chapter 2 — The Health and Social Care Information Centre
259

(b)
the giving of advice and guidance by the Information Centre to such
persons in relation to such a proposal,
(c)
the assessment and approval of quality indicators proposed for
inclusion in the database by such person as the Secretary of State or the
Board may direct, and
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(d)
the inclusion in the database of guidance about how providers may
demonstrate performance measured against the quality indicators.
(3)
In this section a “quality indicator” means a factor by reference to which
performance in the provision of services or care can be measured.
269
Power to confer functions in relation to identification of GPs
10
(1)
Regulations may make provision conferring functions on the Information
Centre in connection with the verification of the identity of general medical
practitioners for purposes connected with the health service in England.
(2)
In subsection (1) “general medical practitioners” means persons registered in
the General Practitioner Register kept by the General Medical Council.
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270
Additional functions
(1)
The Information Centre may do any of the following—
(a)
acquire, produce, manufacture and supply goods,
(b)
acquire land by agreement and manage and deal with land,
(c)
supply accommodation to any person,
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(d)
supply services to any person and provide new services,
(e)
provide instruction for any person, and
(f)
develop and exploit ideas and exploit intellectual property.
(2)
But the Information Centre may exercise a power under subsection (1) only—
(a)
if doing so involves, or is connected with, the collection, analysis,
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publication or other dissemination of information, and
(b)
to the extent that its exercise does not to any significant extent interfere
with the performance by the Centre of any function under or by virtue
of any other provision of this or any other Act.
(3)
The Information Centre may—
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(a)
charge for anything it does in the exercise of a power under
subsection (1), and
(b)
calculate any such charge on the basis that it considers to be the
appropriate commercial basis.
271
Arrangements with other bodies
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(1)
The Information Centre may arrange with any person or body to provide, or
assist in providing, any service which the Centre is required or authorised to
provide by virtue of this Chapter.
(2)
The power under this section may be exercised on such terms as may be
agreed, including terms as to the making of payments by or to the Information
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Centre.

Health and Social Care Bill
Part 9 — Health and adult social care services: information
Chapter 2 — The Health and Social Care Information Centre
260

272
Failure by Information Centre to discharge any of its functions
(1)
The Secretary of State may give a direction to the Information Centre if the
Secretary of State considers that—
(a)
the Centre—
(i)
is failing or has failed to discharge any of its functions, or
5
(ii)
is failing or has failed properly to discharge any of its functions,
and
(b)
the failure is significant.
(2)
A direction under subsection (1) may direct the Information Centre to
discharge such of those functions, and in such manner and within such period
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or periods, as may be specified in the direction.
(3)
If the Information Centre fails to comply with a direction under subsection (1),
the Secretary of State may—
(a)
discharge the functions to which it relates, or
(b)
make arrangements for any other person to discharge them on the
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Secretary of State’s behalf.
(4)
Where the Secretary of State exercises a power under subsection (1) or (3), the
Secretary of State must publish reasons for doing so.
(5)
For the purposes of this section, a failure to discharge a function properly
includes a failure to discharge it consistently with what the Secretary of State
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considers to be the interests of the health service in England or (as the case may
be) with what otherwise appears to the Secretary of State to be the purpose for
which it is conferred.
273
Protection from personal liability
(1)
Section 265 of the Public Health Act 1875 (which relates to the protection of
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members and officers of certain authorities from personal liability) has effect as
if there were included in the authorities referred to in that section a reference
to the Information Centre.
(2)
In its application to the Information Centre as provided for by subsection (1),
section 265 of that Act has effect as if any reference in that section to the Public
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Health Act 1875 were a reference to this Act.
General and supplementary
274
Powers of Secretary of State or Board to give directions
(1)
Regulations may make provision conferring powers on the Secretary of State
or the Board to give directions—
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(a)
requiring a health or social care body to exercise such of the
Information Centre’s functions as may be specified;
(b)
requiring the Centre or another health or social care body to exercise
such information functions of the Secretary of State or (as the case may
be) the Board as may be specified;
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(c)
requiring the Centre to exercise such of the information functions of
any health or social care body as may be specified;
(d)
requiring the Centre to exercise such systems delivery functions of the
Secretary of State or (as the case may be) the Board as may be specified.

Health and Social Care Bill
Part 9 — Health and adult social care services: information
Chapter 2 — The Health and Social Care Information Centre
261

(2)
A function required to be exercised by a direction given by the Secretary of
State or the Board by virtue of subsection (1) is subject to directions given by
the Secretary of State or (as the case may be) the Board about the exercise of the
function.
(3)
A power conferred on the Secretary of State under subsection (1)(a) must
5
provide that a direction may be given in respect of a function of the
Information Centre only if the function relates to information which is of a
description prescribed in the regulations and—
(a)
in respect of which the Secretary of State may give a direction under
section 254, or
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(b)
which the Secretary of State considers is information in respect of
which a mandatory request may be made under section 255.
(4)
A power conferred on the Board under subsection (1)(a) must provide that a
direction may be given in respect of a function of the Information Centre only
if the function relates to information which is of a description prescribed in the
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regulations and in respect of which the Board may give a direction under
section 254.
(5)
A power conferred under subsection (1)(a) must provide that a direction must
include provision requiring the body in question to provide the Information
Centre with the information it needs to comply with the duty under section 264
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(duty to publish information register).
(6)
A power conferred on the Secretary of State under subsection (1)(d) must
provide that a direction may include provision about payments by the
Secretary of State to the Information Centre for things done in the exercise of
the function in respect of which the direction is given.
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(7)
A power conferred on the Board under subsection (1)(d) must provide that a
direction must permit the Information Centre to charge the Board a reasonable
fee in respect of the cost of complying with the direction.
(8)
A power conferred under subsection (1)(d) must provide that the giving of a
direction does not prevent the Secretary of State or (as the case may be) the
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Board from exercising the function in respect of which the direction is given.
(9)
In this section—
“information function” means a function in relation to the collection,
analysis, publication or other dissemination of information;
“specified” means specified in a direction given under regulations made
35
under subsection (1);
“systems delivery function”—
(a)
in relation to the Secretary of State, means a function of the
Secretary of State which is exercisable in relation to the
development or operation of information or communications
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systems in connection with the provision of health services or of
adult social care in England;
(b)
in relation to the Board, means a function of the Board which is
exercisable in relation to the development or operation of
information or communications systems in connection with the
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provision of NHS services.