Health & Labour Market project
Office for National Statistics (ONS) · Agency/Public Body
In term In term in the September 2026 edition: the latest version runs to 3 November 2026.
- Reference
- DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S
- Current version
- v2.2
- Term of current version
- 4 November 2025 to 3 November 2026
- Start date
- 5 November 2024
- Data controller
- Sole Data Controller
- Commercial purposes
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Files released to date
- 0
Why the data was released
Objective for processing
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) obtains NHS England Data for its statutory functions.
Data is obtained under Data Sharing Agreement reference DARS-NIC-175120-W5G2X using ONS’ statutory powers to require disclosure of Data from a public authority under section 45(c) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007.
Data is also obtained under Data Sharing Agreement reference DARS-NIC-400304-S1P1B using ONS’ statutory powers to request disclosure of Data from a public authority under section 45(a) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007.
Those Data Sharing Agreements form part of a contract which limits the purposes for which ONS can use the Data obtained under them.
ONS have statutory powers to onwardly disclose personal information to approved researchers under section 39(4)(i) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007. An “approved researcher” means an individual to whom the Statistics Board (known as the Office for National Statistics) has granted access, for the purposes of statistical research, to personal information held by it.
This Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) authorises ONS to grant access to approved researchers (as defined above) for statistical purposes approved by ONS subject to the following limitations:
• Under this DSA, the purpose for processing is limited to a specific project (‘the Health & Labour Market project’) described below.
• Under this DSA, access is restricted to (i) substantive employees of ONS and (ii) substantive employees of NHS England with ‘approved researcher’ accreditation.
‘Approved researchers’ must be assessed as meeting specific Accreditation Criteria and receive approval from the UK Statistics Authority Research Accreditation Panel (RAP). RAP includes a number of independent members, as well senior civil servants representing key public sector data owners . Each research application will be assessed and must be approved by RAP before ONS provides access to the data for that purpose. Projects require an Ethics Assessment, and where necessary, are reviewed by the National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC). Further information on the approval process can be accessed at the following web address:
https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/digitaleconomyact-research-statistics/research-accreditation-panel/ and NSDEC: National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee – UK Statistics Authority.
To build confidence that review by RAP provides adequate oversight and assurance for new project applications for the IDS, ONS is proposing that AGD will review project proposals in parallel with RAP for the first 12 months – after which point RAP will operate as the sole review body (if all parties agree). RAP already acts as the sole project accreditation mechanism for researchers looking to access the ONS and NHSE jointly-owned Public Health Research Database, available through ONS’ legacy TRE the Secure Research Service.
The first project that will test this new governance process – ‘the Health & Labour Market project’ - will focus on exploring the link between long-term health conditions and risk factors and labour market outcomes. This will include, as an example, an assessment of the economic impacts and benefits of bariatric surgery versus the costs to the NHS. Initial analysis demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have huge impacts on getting people back into work, earning an income and paying taxes, and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS.
More work is needed to provide a better body of evidence to HM Treasury and to NHS decision-makers to help -allocate public funds to where those funds could have the greatest impact. This project presents a unique opportunity to combine health and economic data in a way that has never been possible before and it marks the beginning of a programme of work that has huge potential to transform funding models across government. This could ultimately lead to a more efficient and effective health service and a stronger UK economy.
The approved researchers accessing the data for this first project will be NHS England employees.
The following NHS England Data will be accessed:
• Hospital Episode Statistics
o Admitted Patient Care
o Accident & Emergency
o Critical Care
o Outpatients
The level of the Data will be:
• Pseudonymised
ONS receives and deidentifies the data under other DSAs prior to depositing the pseudonymised subset in the IDS for use under this DSA.
The Data will be minimised as follows:
• The project accreditation process together with the technical controls in the system ensure that the minimum necessary personal data is made available by ONS to each researcher to achieve the stated research outcomes.
• This is achieved by restricting researcher access to their own project storage areas and ensuring that only a limited number of ONS support staff are able to transfer pre-approved data into those folders.
ONS is the controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the Data will only be processed for the purpose described above.
The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is:
Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
The lawful basis for processing special category data under the UK GDPR is:
Article 9(2)(j) - processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
ONS has engaged with the public on attitudes to the use of health data and published several online National Statistical blogs illustrating the use of UK health statistics data and our collaborative relationships with NHSE, DHSC and DWP.
• Bringing together UK Health Statistics (ONS 2024)
• Celebrating 75 years of the NHS and a history of ONS Collaboration (ONS 2023)
• Creating a coherent picture of health in the UK (ONS 2023)
• Linking health and non-health administrative data (ONS 2023)
ONS launched a new and substantive programme of public communication and engagement activity to ensure we maintain high levels of public trust and awareness in building public support for the better use of data. This programme includes an area dedicated to health and wellbeing statistics, demonstrating how ONS statistics deliver public benefit in addressing inequalities and recognising where people and communities need help and support.
Processing activities
No data will flow to NHS England for the purposes of this Data Sharing Agreement (DSA). Under this DSA, ONS will reuse NHS England Data provided under other Data Sharing Agreements between ONS and NHS England.
ONS will create a person-level dataset linking NHS England Data and non-health data from other sources. This processing will be undertaken by a small team of data engineers and linkage experts within ONS’ secure internal data platform. Only this team has access to identifiable data. Once the datasets have been indexed, linked and a new ONS generated unique ID attached any other identifiable information is removed.
The linked, deidentified data is then transferred to ONS’ Trusted Research Environments (TREs) where it will only be accessed by approved researchers and be anonymous in the context of the TRE controls. The ONS TREs are the Secure Research Service (SRS) and the Integrated Data Service (IDS).
For Secure Research Service (SRS): The servers used to store data, and to host the analysis environment are located within a Pan-Government and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Accredited (PGA) data centre, based in the UK. Data in use are stored in a file format compatible with most statistical software packages available in the ONS TRE. The data are stored on an encrypted drive before it is loaded in line with government security standards.
For Integrated Data Service (IDS): The data resides within Google Cloud Platform (GCP). All cloud services consumed for the storage and use of the data are scoped to securely managed GCP Projects. GCP Projects in scope for this project are not connected to ONS corporate networks. GCP Projects in scope for this project are accessible via the internet for administration/analytical work. Access is securely bound up with Google identity services, internet authentication proxies and multi-factor authentication. All platform infrastructure and storage is deployed into the Europe-west2 region (London) and in any of the 3 available zones for redundancy and high availability (where applicable). Processing of data can only be carried out on GCP infrastructure within the deployed region. Access to GCP platform is region locked to UK IP addresses only. Access to IDS and any data it holds is not permitted from outside the UK. Overseas connections are monitored, and connection attempts will lead to account suspension.
Once in the TRE it is stored in a data holding area accessible only to selected and security cleared ONS support staff. When placed in project folders, for access by the researchers, the data are made available as a read-only copy ensuring that researchers cannot edit or tamper with the original dataset in any way.
Access to the data will be limited to:
• approved researchers accessing the data for this first project will be NHS England employees
• approved researchers under the approved researcher framework are carrying out statistical research for the public good, and
• ONS support staff who have appropriate training and security clearance (at least ‘Security Clearance’) to access the data to review and prepare it before making it available to researchers. These support staff also check the research outputs to ensure that they are safe to publish.
The Data will be accessed by authorised personnel via remote access.
The Controller(s) must confirm and provide evidence upon audit by NHS England that access via any remote device complies with the data security obligations within this DSA and the Data Sharing Framework Contract.
For remote access:
- Remote access will only be from secure locations situated within the territory of use (as further restricted elsewhere within the DSA if so done) stated within this DSA;
- Access controls granting users the minimum level of access required are in place;
- Remote access is only via secure connections (e.g., VPNs or secure protocols) to protect data;
- Multifactor authentication (MFA) is required for remote access;
- Device security, including up-to-date software and operating systems, antivirus software, and enabled firewalls are utilised for the remote access;
- All remote access is undertaken within the scope of the organisation’s DSPT (or other security arrangements as per this DSA) and complies with the organisation’s remote access policy.
The above applies in addition to any condition set out elsewhere within the DSA (e.g. who may carry out processing, and for what purpose).
The Data will not leave the UK at any time, and remote access from outside the UK is not possible or permitted.
The ONS TRE does not, as a standard, provide a way for a researcher to ingest their data. The researcher must explicitly specify in their project application what data they wish to ingest for their specific project and ONS will then assess their application and provide specific permission on a case-by-case basis with consent from NHS England. The frequency of this occurring is likely to be low based on other ONS TRE past usage.
Any information removed from the TRE follows a strict governance process to ensure it is not possible to identify a respondent from the output. Specially trained statistical officers check and double check each output to give data owners the assurance that the use of their data are controlled and confidentiality of respondents is protected at all times.
For individual research project, after the end of the research project, the specific data used in that research will be kept for a period of 2 years to allow validation of the research results and then it will be destroyed unless ONS specifies otherwise. At that time the project is moved to a data archive. ONS will destroy the data from the archive after 5 years.
Researchers who request access to data are vetted. Their experience and qualifications are scrutinised. Only those applicants that demonstrate their suitability to handle personal data then undergo a rigorous training course focusing on safe behaviours, attitudes, ethical considerations, their obligations within law and statistical methods to ensure research outcomes do not identify respondents within the data. After the training course, researchers also undergo an assessment test.
Researchers also, as part of their application, must be endorsed by their organisation. The organisation signs an agreement to support that each researcher will behave and adhere to the controls in place before access to data is granted.
Approved researchers are not authorised to attempt to reidentify individuals when using the data.
Expected output
The outputs will vary per approved project but the expected outputs of the processing will commonly be:
• Data models
• Reports
• Submissions to peer reviewed journals
• Presentations at conferences
• Publications of dashboards
• Statistics
The outputs will not contain NHS England Data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.
For the Health & Labour Market project the expected outputs will take the form of data models showing the impact of both ill health (including risk factors) and prevention and treatment (condition management and interventions) in the health space on the labour market and hence economic growth. These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted NHS investment when taking into account the wider impact on labour market outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work. These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted NHS investment when taking into account the wider impact on labour market outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work.
These outputs could both be used to assess the need for investment into interventions but also will provide a proof of concept for future modelling and analysis that could be conducted in a similar fashion focused on other health conditions.
This is a highly exploratory area and it is difficult to predict in advance what insights may be gleaned from the analysis and what outputs may be produced from these insights. However, as part of project and researcher accreditation for access to the ONS' Trusted Research Environment (TRE) the Integrated Data Service (IDS) there is an expectation that any outputs will be published, both for the benefit of the wider research community but also to maintain utmost transparency with the public about how their data is being used for the public good.
Expected measurable benefits
The principle aim of facilitating data access for approved researchers is to deliver public good from the utilisation of linked health and non-health data. ONS believes that the IDS is uniquely placed to capitalise on the latest technology and methods to deliver maximum value from public data, while also ensuring that security, privacy and data protection risks are mitigated and managed in line with best practice and full transparency.
A robust and independent governance and scrutiny process is in place to ensure a clear public benefit from each research use of the data is demonstrated. Data are only used for valuable, ethical research projects that deliver clear public benefits.
Initially, this DSA will be limited in scope to permitting access for a project exploring the link between risk factors, the number of conditions, health interventions, condition management and labour market outcomes. Initial analysis demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have huge impacts on getting people back into work, earning an income and paying taxes (and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS).
More work is needed to provide a better body of evidence to Treasury and NHS decisions makers to help them better allocate public funds to where it could have the greatest impact. This project presents a unique opportunity to combine health and economic data in a way that's never been possible before, and it marks the beginning of a programme of work that has huge potential to transform funding models across government. This could ultimately lead to better health services and a stronger UK economy.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/theimpactofbariatricsurgeryonmonthlyemployeepayandemployeestatusenglandapril2014todecember2022 covers work conducted by ONS analysts internally on the same wider research programme (conducted under DARS-NIC-175120-W5G2X). The underlying dataset used for this analysis is the same dataset that NHS researchers will shortly be able to access via IDS through this new DSA DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S, so it is highly relevant in demonstrating the type of outcomes and benefits to the health and social care system that could be achieved through this DSA.
od.
Benefits reported so far
The Health & Labour Market project has utilised data linkages between electronic health records and tax and benefits data to undertake an ambitious programme on the economic effects of ill health and health interventions.
Collaboration between ONS and NHS England has enabled the sharing of research priorities and expertise that enhances the relevance, quality and impact of the programme and ultimately its success in providing new evidence to inform the Government’s missions on health and growth,
Initial analysis, under the programme, demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have huge impacts on getting people back into work, earning an income and paying taxes (and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS).
Datasets on the current version
Legal basis for provision: Other-(section 45C of the SRSA 2007, as amended by the Digital Economy Act (2017)); Other-(Section 45a of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (2007) as amended by the Digital Economy Act (2017)
| Dataset | Type of data | Sensitivity | Frequency | Confidential data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital Episode Statistics Accident and Emergency (HES A and E) | Identifiable | Sensitive | One-Off | Statutory exemption to flow confidential data without consent |
| Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care (HES APC) | Identifiable | Sensitive | Ongoing | Statutory exemption to flow confidential data without consent |
| Hospital Episode Statistics Critical Care (HES Critical Care) | Identifiable | Non-Sensitive | Ongoing | Statutory exemption to flow confidential data without consent |
| Hospital Episode Statistics Outpatients (HES OP) | Identifiable | Sensitive | Ongoing | Statutory exemption to flow confidential data without consent |
Files released
Files released counts only files released externally by DARS. Access granted in NHS England's own systems, such as its Secure Data Environment, is not included.
No files recorded as released under this agreement.
Version history
The register lists each renewal of this agreement as a separate row. This site has 3 versions.
DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v2.2 4 November 2025 to 3 November 2026
- Title
- Health & Labour Market project
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 4
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Hospital Episode Statistics Accident and Emergency (HES A and E); Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care (HES APC); Hospital Episode Statistics Critical Care (HES Critical Care); Hospital Episode Statistics Outpatients (HES OP)
What changed from DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v1.2
Text removed is struck through; text added is underlined. Unchanged paragraphs are summarised rather than repeated.
| Field | Was | Became |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | 2025-11-04 | |
| End date | 2026-11-03 | |
| Sublicensing | No |
Objective for processing
[36 paragraphs unchanged]
On September 16th 2024,
ONS launched a new and substantive programme of public communication and engagement
[41 words unchanged]
addressing inequalities and recognising where people and communities need help and support.
In addition, ONS has developed a webinar series, called Bringing data to life including an interactive session in December 2024 focussed on how health in the UK is measured in numbers These explainer webinars are designed to have universal appeal using simple content in accessible language. The webinars will not be targeted to professional users of statistics but rather to interested citizens.
In response to feedback from AGD and NSDEC, ONS plan to complement this broader engagement programme through an immediate partnership with the public engagement team at the University of Leicester to create bespoke and rapid PPIE linked to NIC-748645-R5G3D-v0.2 NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP). Beyond this, and to provide further focus on the use of linked health and non-health data, ONS are holding a workshop with PEDRI in October 2024 to gain best practice support and insight to develop and refine its PPIE plans and materials and how best to engage with the public and industry experts such as the Society of Occupational Medicine and Association of British Insurers. ONS anticipates that this workshop event will provide a firm platform for partnership with other government departments, including NHSE, with whom ONS are beginning to explore joint citizen engagement events.
Expected measurable benefits
[5 paragraphs unchanged] od.
Benefits reported
Not stated in the previous version; added here.
The Health & Labour Market project has utilised data linkages between electronic health records and tax and benefits data to undertake an ambitious programme on the economic effects of ill health and health interventions.
Collaboration between ONS and NHS England has enabled the sharing of research priorities and expertise that enhances the relevance, quality and impact of the programme and ultimately its success in providing new evidence to inform the Government’s missions on health and growth,
Initial analysis, under the programme, demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have huge impacts on getting people back into work, earning an income and paying taxes (and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS).
Changed only in punctuation, spacing or capitalisation: Processing activities.
Unchanged: Expected output.
DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v1.2 28 March 2025 to 4 November 2025
- Title
- Health & Labour Market project
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- Yes
- Datasets
- 4
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Hospital Episode Statistics Accident and Emergency (HES A and E); Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care (HES APC); Hospital Episode Statistics Critical Care (HES Critical Care); Hospital Episode Statistics Outpatients (HES OP)
What changed from DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v0.4
Text removed is struck through; text added is underlined. Unchanged paragraphs are summarised rather than repeated.
| Field | Was | Became |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | 2025-03-28 |
Objective for processing
[11 paragraphs unchanged]
The first project that will test this new governance process – ‘the Health & Labour Market project’ - will focus on exploring the link between
obesity
long-term
health
interventions
conditions and risk factors
and labour market
outcomes, more specifically assessing
outcomes. This will include, as an example, an assessment of
the economic impacts and benefits of bariatric surgery versus the costs to
[28 words unchanged]
and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS.
[26 paragraphs unchanged]
Expected output
[8 paragraphs unchanged]
For the Health & Labour Market project the expected outputs will take the form of data models showing the
impact of both ill health (including risk factors) and prevention and treatment (condition management and interventions) in the health space on the labour market and hence
economic
impacts of bariatric surgery and other related obesity interventions.
growth.
These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted
[12 words unchanged]
outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work.
These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted NHS investment when taking into account the wider impact on labour market outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work.
These outputs could both be used to assess the need for investment into
obesity
interventions but also will provide a proof of concept for future modelling and analysis that could be conducted in a similar fashion focused on other health conditions.
[1 paragraph unchanged]
Expected measurable benefits
[2 paragraphs unchanged]
Initially, this DSA will be limited in scope to permitting access for a project exploring the link between
obesity
risk factors, the number of conditions,
health
interventions
interventions, condition management
and labour market
outcomes - more specifically assessing the economic impacts and benefits of bariatric surgery vs. the costs to the NHS.
outcomes.
Initial analysis demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have
[14 words unchanged]
(and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS).
[1 paragraph unchanged]
https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/theimpactofbariatricsurgeryonmonthlyemployeepayandemployeestatusenglandapril2014todecember2022 covers work conducted by ONS analysts internally on the same wider research programme (conducted under
DARS-NIC-175120).
DARS-NIC-175120-W5G2X).
The underlying dataset used for this analysis is the same dataset that NHS researchers will shortly be able to access via IDS through this new DSA
DARS-NIC-764470,
DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S,
so
it's
it is
highly relevant in demonstrating the type of outcomes and benefits to the health and social care system that could be achieved through this DSA.
Benefits reported
Stated in the previous version and removed here.
Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.
Unchanged: Processing activities.
Objective for processing
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) obtains NHS England Data for its statutory functions.
Data is obtained under Data Sharing Agreement reference DARS-NIC-175120-W5G2X using ONS’ statutory powers to require disclosure of Data from a public authority under section 45(c) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007.
Data is also obtained under Data Sharing Agreement reference DARS-NIC-400304-S1P1B using ONS’ statutory powers to request disclosure of Data from a public authority under section 45(a) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007.
Those Data Sharing Agreements form part of a contract which limits the purposes for which ONS can use the Data obtained under them.
ONS have statutory powers to onwardly disclose personal information to approved researchers under section 39(4)(i) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007. An “approved researcher” means an individual to whom the Statistics Board (known as the Office for National Statistics) has granted access, for the purposes of statistical research, to personal information held by it.
This Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) authorises ONS to grant access to approved researchers (as defined above) for statistical purposes approved by ONS subject to the following limitations:
• Under this DSA, the purpose for processing is limited to a specific project (‘the Health & Labour Market project’) described below.
• Under this DSA, access is restricted to (i) substantive employees of ONS and (ii) substantive employees of NHS England with ‘approved researcher’ accreditation.
‘Approved researchers’ must be assessed as meeting specific Accreditation Criteria and receive approval from the UK Statistics Authority Research Accreditation Panel (RAP). RAP includes a number of independent members, as well senior civil servants representing key public sector data owners . Each research application will be assessed and must be approved by RAP before ONS provides access to the data for that purpose. Projects require an Ethics Assessment, and where necessary, are reviewed by the National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC). Further information on the approval process can be accessed at the following web address:
https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/digitaleconomyact-research-statistics/research-accreditation-panel/ and NSDEC: National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee – UK Statistics Authority.
To build confidence that review by RAP provides adequate oversight and assurance for new project applications for the IDS, ONS is proposing that AGD will review project proposals in parallel with RAP for the first 12 months – after which point RAP will operate as the sole review body (if all parties agree). RAP already acts as the sole project accreditation mechanism for researchers looking to access the ONS and NHSE jointly-owned Public Health Research Database, available through ONS’ legacy TRE the Secure Research Service.
The first project that will test this new governance process – ‘the Health & Labour Market project’ - will focus on exploring the link between long-term health conditions and risk factors and labour market outcomes. This will include, as an example, an assessment of the economic impacts and benefits of bariatric surgery versus the costs to the NHS. Initial analysis demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have huge impacts on getting people back into work, earning an income and paying taxes, and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS.
More work is needed to provide a better body of evidence to HM Treasury and to NHS decision-makers to help -allocate public funds to where those funds could have the greatest impact. This project presents a unique opportunity to combine health and economic data in a way that has never been possible before and it marks the beginning of a programme of work that has huge potential to transform funding models across government. This could ultimately lead to a more efficient and effective health service and a stronger UK economy.
The approved researchers accessing the data for this first project will be NHS England employees.
The following NHS England Data will be accessed:
• Hospital Episode Statistics
o Admitted Patient Care
o Accident & Emergency
o Critical Care
o Outpatients
The level of the Data will be:
• Pseudonymised
ONS receives and deidentifies the data under other DSAs prior to depositing the pseudonymised subset in the IDS for use under this DSA.
The Data will be minimised as follows:
• The project accreditation process together with the technical controls in the system ensure that the minimum necessary personal data is made available by ONS to each researcher to achieve the stated research outcomes.
• This is achieved by restricting researcher access to their own project storage areas and ensuring that only a limited number of ONS support staff are able to transfer pre-approved data into those folders.
ONS is the controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the Data will only be processed for the purpose described above.
The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is:
Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
The lawful basis for processing special category data under the UK GDPR is:
Article 9(2)(j) - processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
ONS has engaged with the public on attitudes to the use of health data and published several online National Statistical blogs illustrating the use of UK health statistics data and our collaborative relationships with NHSE, DHSC and DWP.
• Bringing together UK Health Statistics (ONS 2024)
• Celebrating 75 years of the NHS and a history of ONS Collaboration (ONS 2023)
• Creating a coherent picture of health in the UK (ONS 2023)
• Linking health and non-health administrative data (ONS 2023)
On September 16th 2024, ONS launched a new and substantive programme of public communication and engagement activity to ensure we maintain high levels of public trust and awareness in building public support for the better use of data. This programme includes an area dedicated to health and wellbeing statistics, demonstrating how ONS statistics deliver public benefit in addressing inequalities and recognising where people and communities need help and support. In addition, ONS has developed a webinar series, called Bringing data to life including an interactive session in December 2024 focussed on how health in the UK is measured in numbers These explainer webinars are designed to have universal appeal using simple content in accessible language. The webinars will not be targeted to professional users of statistics but rather to interested citizens.
In response to feedback from AGD and NSDEC, ONS plan to complement this broader engagement programme through an immediate partnership with the public engagement team at the University of Leicester to create bespoke and rapid PPIE linked to NIC-748645-R5G3D-v0.2 NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP). Beyond this, and to provide further focus on the use of linked health and non-health data, ONS are holding a workshop with PEDRI in October 2024 to gain best practice support and insight to develop and refine its PPIE plans and materials and how best to engage with the public and industry experts such as the Society of Occupational Medicine and Association of British Insurers. ONS anticipates that this workshop event will provide a firm platform for partnership with other government departments, including NHSE, with whom ONS are beginning to explore joint citizen engagement events.
Expected output
The outputs will vary per approved project but the expected outputs of the processing will commonly be:
• Data models
• Reports
• Submissions to peer reviewed journals
• Presentations at conferences
• Publications of dashboards
• Statistics
The outputs will not contain NHS England Data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.
For the Health & Labour Market project the expected outputs will take the form of data models showing the impact of both ill health (including risk factors) and prevention and treatment (condition management and interventions) in the health space on the labour market and hence economic growth. These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted NHS investment when taking into account the wider impact on labour market outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work. These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted NHS investment when taking into account the wider impact on labour market outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work.
These outputs could both be used to assess the need for investment into interventions but also will provide a proof of concept for future modelling and analysis that could be conducted in a similar fashion focused on other health conditions.
This is a highly exploratory area and it is difficult to predict in advance what insights may be gleaned from the analysis and what outputs may be produced from these insights. However, as part of project and researcher accreditation for access to the ONS' Trusted Research Environment (TRE) the Integrated Data Service (IDS) there is an expectation that any outputs will be published, both for the benefit of the wider research community but also to maintain utmost transparency with the public about how their data is being used for the public good.
DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v0.4 5 November 2024 to 4 November 2025
- Title
- Health & Labour Market project
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- Yes
- Datasets
- 4
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Hospital Episode Statistics Accident and Emergency (HES A and E); Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care (HES APC); Hospital Episode Statistics Critical Care (HES Critical Care); Hospital Episode Statistics Outpatients (HES OP)
Objective for processing
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) obtains NHS England Data for its statutory functions.
Data is obtained under Data Sharing Agreement reference DARS-NIC-175120-W5G2X using ONS’ statutory powers to require disclosure of Data from a public authority under section 45(c) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007.
Data is also obtained under Data Sharing Agreement reference DARS-NIC-400304-S1P1B using ONS’ statutory powers to request disclosure of Data from a public authority under section 45(a) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007.
Those Data Sharing Agreements form part of a contract which limits the purposes for which ONS can use the Data obtained under them.
ONS have statutory powers to onwardly disclose personal information to approved researchers under section 39(4)(i) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (SRSA) 2007. An “approved researcher” means an individual to whom the Statistics Board (known as the Office for National Statistics) has granted access, for the purposes of statistical research, to personal information held by it.
This Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) authorises ONS to grant access to approved researchers (as defined above) for statistical purposes approved by ONS subject to the following limitations:
• Under this DSA, the purpose for processing is limited to a specific project (‘the Health & Labour Market project’) described below.
• Under this DSA, access is restricted to (i) substantive employees of ONS and (ii) substantive employees of NHS England with ‘approved researcher’ accreditation.
‘Approved researchers’ must be assessed as meeting specific Accreditation Criteria and receive approval from the UK Statistics Authority Research Accreditation Panel (RAP). RAP includes a number of independent members, as well senior civil servants representing key public sector data owners . Each research application will be assessed and must be approved by RAP before ONS provides access to the data for that purpose. Projects require an Ethics Assessment, and where necessary, are reviewed by the National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC). Further information on the approval process can be accessed at the following web address:
https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/digitaleconomyact-research-statistics/research-accreditation-panel/ and NSDEC: National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee – UK Statistics Authority.
To build confidence that review by RAP provides adequate oversight and assurance for new project applications for the IDS, ONS is proposing that AGD will review project proposals in parallel with RAP for the first 12 months – after which point RAP will operate as the sole review body (if all parties agree). RAP already acts as the sole project accreditation mechanism for researchers looking to access the ONS and NHSE jointly-owned Public Health Research Database, available through ONS’ legacy TRE the Secure Research Service.
The first project that will test this new governance process – ‘the Health & Labour Market project’ - will focus on exploring the link between obesity health interventions and labour market outcomes, more specifically assessing the economic impacts and benefits of bariatric surgery versus the costs to the NHS. Initial analysis demonstrates that targeted government investment in bariatric surgery could have huge impacts on getting people back into work, earning an income and paying taxes, and that this economic benefit significantly offsets the cost to the NHS.
More work is needed to provide a better body of evidence to HM Treasury and to NHS decision-makers to help -allocate public funds to where those funds could have the greatest impact. This project presents a unique opportunity to combine health and economic data in a way that has never been possible before and it marks the beginning of a programme of work that has huge potential to transform funding models across government. This could ultimately lead to a more efficient and effective health service and a stronger UK economy.
The approved researchers accessing the data for this first project will be NHS England employees.
The following NHS England Data will be accessed:
• Hospital Episode Statistics
o Admitted Patient Care
o Accident & Emergency
o Critical Care
o Outpatients
The level of the Data will be:
• Pseudonymised
ONS receives and deidentifies the data under other DSAs prior to depositing the pseudonymised subset in the IDS for use under this DSA.
The Data will be minimised as follows:
• The project accreditation process together with the technical controls in the system ensure that the minimum necessary personal data is made available by ONS to each researcher to achieve the stated research outcomes.
• This is achieved by restricting researcher access to their own project storage areas and ensuring that only a limited number of ONS support staff are able to transfer pre-approved data into those folders.
ONS is the controller as the organisation responsible for ensuring that the Data will only be processed for the purpose described above.
The lawful basis for processing personal data under the UK GDPR is:
Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
The lawful basis for processing special category data under the UK GDPR is:
Article 9(2)(j) - processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
ONS has engaged with the public on attitudes to the use of health data and published several online National Statistical blogs illustrating the use of UK health statistics data and our collaborative relationships with NHSE, DHSC and DWP.
• Bringing together UK Health Statistics (ONS 2024)
• Celebrating 75 years of the NHS and a history of ONS Collaboration (ONS 2023)
• Creating a coherent picture of health in the UK (ONS 2023)
• Linking health and non-health administrative data (ONS 2023)
On September 16th 2024, ONS launched a new and substantive programme of public communication and engagement activity to ensure we maintain high levels of public trust and awareness in building public support for the better use of data. This programme includes an area dedicated to health and wellbeing statistics, demonstrating how ONS statistics deliver public benefit in addressing inequalities and recognising where people and communities need help and support. In addition, ONS has developed a webinar series, called Bringing data to life including an interactive session in December 2024 focussed on how health in the UK is measured in numbers These explainer webinars are designed to have universal appeal using simple content in accessible language. The webinars will not be targeted to professional users of statistics but rather to interested citizens.
In response to feedback from AGD and NSDEC, ONS plan to complement this broader engagement programme through an immediate partnership with the public engagement team at the University of Leicester to create bespoke and rapid PPIE linked to NIC-748645-R5G3D-v0.2 NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP). Beyond this, and to provide further focus on the use of linked health and non-health data, ONS are holding a workshop with PEDRI in October 2024 to gain best practice support and insight to develop and refine its PPIE plans and materials and how best to engage with the public and industry experts such as the Society of Occupational Medicine and Association of British Insurers. ONS anticipates that this workshop event will provide a firm platform for partnership with other government departments, including NHSE, with whom ONS are beginning to explore joint citizen engagement events.
Expected output
The outputs will vary per approved project but the expected outputs of the processing will commonly be:
• Data models
• Reports
• Submissions to peer reviewed journals
• Presentations at conferences
• Publications of dashboards
• Statistics
The outputs will not contain NHS England Data and will only contain aggregated information with small numbers suppressed as appropriate in line with the relevant disclosure rules for the dataset(s) from which the information was derived.
For the Health & Labour Market project the expected outputs will take the form of data models showing the economic impacts of bariatric surgery and other related obesity interventions. These models will help estimate the holistic costs versus benefits of targeted NHS investment when taking into account the wider impact on labour market outcomes and tax receipts if/when individuals are able to return to work.
These outputs could both be used to assess the need for investment into obesity interventions but also will provide a proof of concept for future modelling and analysis that could be conducted in a similar fashion focused on other health conditions.
This is a highly exploratory area and it is difficult to predict in advance what insights may be gleaned from the analysis and what outputs may be produced from these insights. However, as part of project and researcher accreditation for access to the ONS' Trusted Research Environment (TRE) the Integrated Data Service (IDS) there is an expectation that any outputs will be published, both for the benefit of the wider research community but also to maintain utmost transparency with the public about how their data is being used for the public good.
Benefits reported
Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.
Register history
When this agreement appeared in, or was edited in, each monthly edition of the register. Built by comparing every edition this site holds.
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December 2024 —
first listed. 1 version: DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v0.4
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May 2025
1 version added: DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v1.2
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July 2025
Renamed Applicant organisation: Office for National Statistics now named Office for National Statistics (ONS). Not counted as a change.
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December 2025
1 version added: DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S-v2.2
Cite this page
NHS England (2026) Data Uses Register, September 2026 edition, agreement DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S, “Health & Labour Market project”. Read via NHS Data Access Explorer (unofficial), https://healthdatauses.uk/agreements/dars-nic-764470-n9w3s/ (accessed [date]).
This address stays the same, but the page is rebuilt with each monthly edition, so the citation names the edition it shows. Every edition's data is kept in the facts store.
Source: datausesregister_september2026.xlsx, September 2026 edition of the NHS England Data Uses Register. Search that workbook for DARS-NIC-764470-N9W3S to see the original rows.