Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information is being provided to his Department by NHS England on the progress on insourcing previously outsourced services within the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not routinely collect data on outsourcing or insourcing arrangements. Outsourcing transactions which involve the creation of new subsidiaries or material changes to existing subsidiaries are reportable to NHS England for review in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance.
As set out on 26 September 2025, NHS England will shortly consult on updating the subsidiary transaction guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of National Health Service staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
Subsidiary transaction proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff are paused while NHS England undertakes this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his department has made representations outlining concerns to NHS England about multiple Trusts and FTs in the North West engaging in activities around the proposed formation of or changes to subcos without following the guidance provided by NHS England in February 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Outsourcing transactions which involve the creation of new subsidiaries, or material changes to existing subsidiaries, including any proposals in the North West, are reportable to NHS England for review in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance.
NHS England wrote to the sector on 26 September 2025 to highlight a change in national policy on subsidiaries given concerns about transferring National Health Service staff into new organisations, which is seen as undermining the concept of a single NHS workforce.
NHS England will shortly consult on updating the subsidiary transaction guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of NHS staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
All subsidiary transaction proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff are paused while NHS England undertakes this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions. This includes any proposals in the North West.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what action will be taken against NHS Trusts that do not follow guidance from NHS England around proposals to consider the formation of a subco.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Outsourcing transactions which involve the creation of new subsidiaries, or material changes to existing subsidiaries, including any proposals in the North West, are reportable to NHS England for review in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance.
NHS England wrote to the sector on 26 September 2025 to highlight a change in national policy on subsidiaries given concerns about transferring National Health Service staff into new organisations, which is seen as undermining the concept of a single NHS workforce.
NHS England will shortly consult on updating the subsidiary transaction guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of NHS staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
All subsidiary transaction proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff are paused while NHS England undertakes this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions. This includes any proposals in the North West.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps have been taken to ensure NHS England enforces the guidance around the formation of subcos.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Outsourcing transactions which involve the creation of new subsidiaries, or material changes to existing subsidiaries, including any proposals in the North West, are reportable to NHS England for review in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance.
NHS England wrote to the sector on 26 September 2025 to highlight a change in national policy on subsidiaries given concerns about transferring National Health Service staff into new organisations, which is seen as undermining the concept of a single NHS workforce.
NHS England will shortly consult on updating the subsidiary transaction guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of NHS staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
All subsidiary transaction proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff are paused while NHS England undertakes this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions. This includes any proposals in the North West.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department is collecting to monitor progress towards reducing the level of outsourcing in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not routinely collect data on outsourcing or insourcing arrangements. Outsourcing transactions which involve the creation of new subsidiaries or material changes to existing subsidiaries are reportable to NHS England for review in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance.
As set out on 26 September 2025, NHS England will shortly consult on updating the subsidiary transaction guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of National Health Service staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
Subsidiary transaction proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff are paused while NHS England undertakes this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what response was provided by DHSC to the consultation by HM Treasury around changes to the VAT treatment of public bodies under Section 41 of the VAT Act.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care did not submit a formal response to HM Treasury’s consultation on proposed changes to the VAT treatment of public bodies under section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.
The consultation, VAT and the Public Sector: Reform to VAT Refund Rules, was published by HM Treasury on 27 August 2020 and closed on 19 November 2020.
As a central Government department, the Department of Health and Social Care engaged with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs through cross-Government discussions to consider the potential implications of the proposals for the health and care system, including National Health Service bodies, rather than responding as a stakeholder in its own right.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any NHS Trusts are developing proposals for new SubCos.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trust proposals to establish subsidiary companies are reviewed by NHS England in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance. NHS England has one proposal under formal consideration.
As set out on 26 September 2025, NHS England will shortly consult on updating national guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of NHS staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment had been made by DHSC or provided to DHSC by NHS England about the potential impact on the NHS of proposed changes to introduce the full refund model for VAT in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a formal published assessment of the potential impact on the National Health Service of the proposed changes to introduce a full refund model for VAT under section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.
The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have engaged with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs through cross-Government discussions to understand the potential implications of the proposals for the NHS, including the interaction with NHS funding flows and the principle that any reform would need to be fiscally neutral.
NHS England has provided input to the Department to support this engagement, including analysis of existing VAT recovery arrangements and high-level consideration of the potential impacts of moving from the current Contracted Out Services regime to a full refund model. This work has been undertaken to inform cross-Government discussions and data-gathering exercises led by HM Treasury, rather than as a standalone assessment of the impact on NHS services.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to assess compensation for those living with Fetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department continues to take forward work to explore redress for those affected by pelvic mesh and sodium valproate, which includes recommendations made by the Patient Safety Commissioner in the Hughes Report. We recognise the importance of these issues for all those affected. This remains a cross-Government policy area involving multiple organisations, and given the complexity of the issues involved, it is important we get this right.
I met with the Patient Safety Commissioner in December 2025, to discuss progress following the Hughes Report and have made clear the Department’s expectation of continued, proactive engagement with the Patient Safety Commissioner and key stakeholders.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to increase access to defibrillators in Ellesmere Port and Bromborough constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Department’s Community Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Fund delivered 3080 new AEDs to local communities between September 2023 and February 2025.
The Government’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating and maintaining AEDs. Over 110,000 defibrillators are registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent AED database. Over 30,000 of these have been added in the past two years, many as a result of local community-led action.
More broadly, Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board is taking a whole system approach to improving cardiovascular health including improving the detection and treatment of key cardiac risk factors. The action being taken aims to lower the incidence of sudden cardiac arrest associated with unmanaged arrhythmia, high blood pressure and advanced coronary disease.