Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS Improvement's resourcing to enable it to fulfil its monitor function; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of NHS Improvement's due diligence processes in regard to the former Liverpool Community Heath contract being awarded to Bridgewater; what guidance his Department issues on the timing of due diligence; and whether NHS Improvement was compliant with such guidance in that case.

NHS Improvement is resourced to undertake a number of functions, which include working with National Health Service providers to ensure that due diligence processes are completed in a timely and effective manner. In the case of the Liverpool Community Health contract, the publication of the Care Quality Commission report into Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust led to a pause in the transaction.