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.

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.