Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) trade unions and (b) the NHS on the potential effect of the establishment of wholly-owned subsidiaries by NHS Trusts on pay and conditions of healthcare workers.

As part of the Department’s regular engagement with trade unions and NHS England and NHS Improvement, issues on the potential effect of the establishment of wholly-owned subsidiaries by National Health Service trusts on pay and conditions of healthcare workers have been raised on an ad hoc basis.

Under powers granted under the NHS Act 2006 S46 (5), NHS organisations have been responsible for deciding locally the most appropriate structures they need to deliver services to their patients and to support their operations. Where NHS organisations decide locally to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary, staff who are compulsorily transferred from the NHS to the subsidiary will be protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. This protects pay and terms and conditions at the point of transfer.