National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill [Bill 18 of 2014-15]

This Library briefing paper provides information on the National Health Service (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill, which received its Second Reading on 21 November 2014. It is a Private Members Bill introduced by Clive Efford, the Member having come sixth in the Private Members’ Bill ballot for the 2014-15 session.

The Bill seeks to make changes to a number of provisions in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the National Health Service Act 2006, including:

• Amending the Secretary of State for Health’s statutory duties in relation to the health service in England.

• Amending or repealing a number of provisions relating to competition and procurement policy in the NHS, in order to remove any obligations on NHS commissioner’s to put health services out to tender.

• Substituting provisions that currently allow NHS foundation trusts to generate up to half of their income from private sources with a new power for the Secretary of State to determine the appropriate limit on private income, subject to certain safeguards.

• Transferring the responsibility for approving mergers between NHS hospitals from Monitor and the competition authorities’ to the Secretary of State.

The Bill also includes measures intended to exempt the NHS from the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Treaty and other national or international agreements.

This Library briefing provides information on the Bill and some background on competition policy in the English NHS, including recent changes under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It also includes some recent data on independent sector provision of NHS-funded services.