Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications have been considered under the process set out in the Addendum to the transactions guidance for trusts forming or changing a subsidiary; and how many of those applications have been approved.

Ministers do not have a role in approving Wholly Owned Subsidiary companies created by National Health Service foundation trusts, with this role undertaken through the statutory powers and duties of NHS England and NHS Improvement.

As of 28 January 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement had been notified of 22 business cases as part of their Wholly Owned Subsidiary review process. A number of these are still ‘live’ cases where information is still being received as part of the review.

Information of how many applications have been approved is not available in the format requested. When trusts submit a proposal to NHS England and NHS Improvement, a panel reviews the business case and determines a transaction classification based on the nature and level of risks identified, in accordance with the requirements of the Addendum to the transactions guidance. Transactions are then classified as material or significant. Of the cases reviewed to date, the following classification decisions have been made:

- 13 cases were material;

- 4 cases were significant;

- 1 case did not meet the threshold for being material; and

- 4 cases have yet to receive a classification decision.