§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether a sexual lifestyle survey, which has been preceded by a pilot survey and approved by the Government Chief Medical Adviser, the Health Education Authority, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, a consortium of relevant institutions, and a peer review group, is to be launched, and, if not, why not.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hooper)Ministers have given considerable thought to the case for financing this survey and to the justification for asking people intimate questions about their personal lives. While we fully understand the basis of the survey proposed we have concluded that it is not appropriate for the Government to support it. The Government remain fully committed to ensuring that this data on HIV are as full and comprehensive as possible, and are considering what further measures may be necessary to secure this.