Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the scrutiny of NHS Foundation Trusts in cases where the chair of the board of directors is the same person as the chair of the council of governors.

By law, the chair of a foundation trust is also the chair of the council of governors. This requirement is set out in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7 to the National Health Service Act 2006.

The rationale is to ensure that the chair, who oversees the foundation trust’s board, which is itself comprised of executives and non-executives and is responsible for the trust’s operation and plan development, serves as the link between this board and the council of governors, who are elected by the foundation trust’s members and represent the local population.

The Department has not carried out an assessment of the effectiveness of scrutiny into the dual-chair role.