To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will set out their spending plan to meet
the target to increase dementia research funding to £160 million per year by 2024.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the British Council
regarding the decision to reduce funding to that organisation; what assessment they
have made of the impact of the closures of British Council offices that have resulted
from the funding cuts; and what assessment they have made of the compatibility of
their decision with their Global Britain policy.
<p>The government remains committed to the British Council. As the Integrated Review
made clear, the Council is one of the vital instruments of our influence overseas.
We agreed a 2021/22 Spending Review settlement totalling £189m, a 27% increase on
funding for 2020/21. The Council will continue to operate in over 100 countries promoting
the English language, UK arts and culture, and education. Our commitment to Global
Britain is clear through our hosting of the G7 last month, and the UK continues to
be a soft power superpower.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood
of North Oxford on 21 January (HL127), whether the contract signed with Amazon to
provide health data from the NHS specifies whether Amazon has liability for (1) the
loss, (2) the destruction, (3) the corruption, (4) the desegregation, or (5) the damage,
of health data.
<p>No patient data is being shared with Amazon as part of this agreement. The collaboration
with Amazon simply connects people to medically verified information on a range of
different medical conditions, symptoms and treatments which is already freely available
online through the National Health Service website. Use of Amazon Alexa is just an
alternative mechanism for accessing that information.</p><p>The agreement with Amazon
clearly stipulates that neither party is liable for any loss of data. The data referred
to in this agreement is the medically verified NHS information that is already freely
available on the NHS website. It does not concern patient data, as this is not being
shared with Amazon. There is no significant risk for the NHS concerning the loss,
destruction, corruption, desegregation or damage of this data.</p><p>This agreement
with Amazon will help people manage their own healthcare more effectively, reaching
a far greater number of citizens. This will enable people to take better control of
their own healthcare needs, thereby potentially helping with prevention and early
diagnosis.</p>
