Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that any future regulation undertaken by NHS Improvement with respect to the creation of wholly owned subsidiaries is followed by NHS Trusts.

In November 2018, NHS Improvement published an addendum to the Transactions Guidance – for trusts undertaking transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, to include further guidance about trusts forming or changing a subsidiary (“the Addendum”). Under that guidance, all subsidiary proposals must be referred to NHS Improvement for consideration.

The trust may only proceed with the transaction and enter into any legally-binding arrangements in relation to the subsidiary once the proposal has been reviewed by NHS Improvement.