Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Three-Vodafone merger on NHS 111 helpline contracts.

As an open economy, this Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting United Kingdom growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security & Investment Act, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.

We cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime. It is the responsibility of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.

The Investment Security Unit works closely with the CMA on cases that are being considered for both national security and competition reasons. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between the Investment Security Unit and the CMA to assist joint working.