NHS WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

That this House notes that an increasing number of NHS trusts in England are attempting to establish wholly owned subsidiary companies to deliver services such as facilities and estates, ostensibly as a means of exploiting a tax loophole; believes that the major savings will in fact come from employing new staff on non-NHS terms and conditions, with no access to the NHS Pension Scheme; considers that such moves amount to backdoor privatisation, which is taking place despite mounting evidence of the failure of outsourcing in the NHS; recognises that the NHS is under extreme financial pressure but considers that such moves are merely short-term fixes that will create further problems in future; asserts that long-term protection of pay and pensions for staff transferring to new companies is weak, with some examples already of such organisations moving unilaterally to change staff conditions post-transfer; further believes that once such companies have been set up, it is far easier for trusts to transfer other staff and services in future; further considers that the NHS always functions at its best when services and staff work together as one team across an organisation, rather than being artificially separated by the establishment of arms-length entities; and calls on the Government to block the creation of any further NHS wholly owned subsidiary companies, while guaranteeing the continuation of the national Agenda for Change pay system and access to the NHS Pension Scheme for all healthcare staff, whether providing clinical or non-clinical services.