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Andrew Selous

South West Bedfordshire

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Health and Care Bill: Privatisation

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Please be assured that I have the highest admiration for everyone who works in the NHS. The NHS saved my life when I was 24. It was there for me in my hour of need, and I always want to make sure that it will be there for everyone else who needs it, irrespective of the ability to pay. I also have two children who work in the NHS, so we are deeply committed to it as a family.

The NHS is and always will be free at the point of use. I am committed to the guiding principles of the NHS, which mean the NHS is not and never will be for sale.

The overwhelming majority of services paid for by the NHS are provided by NHS organisations and this will continue to be the case. Service provision by the independent and voluntary sectors has been an important and valuable feature of the system under successive governments. 

The proposals in the Bill dispense with the idea that tendering is the ideal default way to arrange healthcare services, and recognises that commissioners need a broader, more flexible range of routes to deciding who to contract with. The proposed new regime is being designed to allow transparency, scrutiny and due-diligence in decision-making. Patients should be able to access the best possible treatments and services based on quality; delivering the best possible outcomes, rather than basing any decision on the type of provider.

Integrated Care Boards will be NHS bodies, bringing in members from a range of other NHS bodies including NHS commissioners and NHS providers. Any accusations of “privatisation” are misleading. 

These new commissioning bodies are public bodies and will not, and indeed cannot, be controlled by private providers. To put this beyond doubt, I welcome the Government’s amendment to the Bill to protect the independence of ICBs by preventing individuals with significant interests or views that could undermine the independence of the health service from sitting on a board. The amendment was not a blanket ban on employees of private companies because that would have been arbitrary and potentially damaging. It would have prevented suitable candidates, such as GPs, sitting on a board.

The King's Fund, an independent charitable organisation working to improve health and care in England, has said: "Some have raised concerns that this legislation will allow contracts to be awarded to new providers without sufficient scrutiny, opening the door to private providers. In fact, this is less likely under the new system."

I hope this has provided some reassurance about the Bill.

Campaign Responses

  • Access to Eye Care
  • Access to Mental Health Support and Services
  • Access to Nature
  • Access to Playgrounds (Disabled Children)
  • Access to Waterways
  • Adult Dependant Relative Visa
  • Adult Social Care
  • Affordability of Transport
  • Afghanistan and Pakistan
  • Afghanistan: Nowzad
  • Afghanistan Refugees
  • Afghanistan Refugees (Christians)
  • Afghanistan Withdrawal
  • Air Passenger Duty
  • Air Quality
  • AL Amyloidosis
  • Alcohol Duty
  • All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs)
  • American XL Bully Dogs
  • Animal Cruelty
  • Animal in Science Regulation Unit
  • Animal Research
  • Animal Testing – Cosmetics
  • Animal Testing - Labelling
  • Animal Welfare
  • Animal Welfare (RSPCA)
  • Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill
  • Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill
  • Animal Welfare Standards and Tourism
  • Anti-Migrant Protests
  • Arms Exports
  • Arms Exports: Israel
  • Arthritis
  • Artificial Intelligence (Education)
  • Arts Council England
  • ASRU Change Programme
  • Assisted Suicide
  • Asylum Seekers and Refugee Resettlement
  • Asylum Support and Employment
  • Audio Visual Information on Buses
  • Autistic People's Experiences of Education
  • Avian Influenza
  • Aviation Emissions
  • Aviation Industry Concerns
  • Bank 'Windfall Tax'
  • BBC Funding
  • BBC World Service
  • Behaviour in Schools
  • Biodiversity
  • Biomass
  • Bite Back Better Campaign
  • Blood Cancer (Leukaemia)
  • Bomb Disposal and Whales
  • Bovine Tuberculosis
  • Bowel Cancer Awareness Month
  • Boycotts by Public Institutions
  • Brachycephalic Animals
  • Brain Tumours
  • Breast Cancer
  • British Sign Language Classes for Families with Deaf Children
  • Building Safety Bill
  • Bus Deregulation
  • Business and Human Rights
  • Caged Farm Animals
  • Campaign - #CatchUpWithCancer
  • Canals
  • Cancer Research
  • Cancer Treatment
  • Carer’s Leave
  • Cash Availability and Acceptance
  • Chalk Streams
  • Child Deaths Worldwide
  • Child Maintenance Service (CMS)’s Collect and Pay Service
  • Child Poverty
  • Childhood Cancer Outcomes
  • Children Affected by Humanitarian Crises
  • Children with Sight Loss (Education)
  • China (Official Development Assistance)
  • Commercial Energy Prices
  • Commissioner for Older People
  • Community Energy
  • Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership
  • Compulsory Solar Power for New Builds
  • Consular Services in Afghanistan
  • Conversion Therapy Bill
  • Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill
  • COP27 (Climate-Related Loss and Damage)
  • Cost of Living (University Students)
  • Council Investment Decisions
  • Counselling Notes
  • Courier Employment Rights
  • 'Credit their Service' Campaign
  • Cropping of Dogs’ Ears
  • Cycling and Walking
  • Cyprus
  • Dangerous Dogs Act
  • Deaths Related to the Benefits System
  • Debt and the Cost of Living
  • Debt Relief for Lower Income Countries
  • Deep Sea Mining
  • Defibrillators and the Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Bill
  • Dementia Research and Diagnosis
  • Democratic Freedoms in the UK
  • Deportation Flights
  • Deposit Return Systems
  • Derby County Football Club
  • Diabetes
  • Disability Benefit Assessments
  • Disabled People and the Cost of Living
  • Dog Fighting
  • Domestic Abuse (Serial Abusers & Stalkers)
  • Domestic Abuse (Time Limits)
  • Drink and Needle Spiking
  • Early Years Funding
  • Ecology Bill
  • Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill - EDM 1415
  • Education for Deaf Children
  • Education and Development Globally
  • Elections Act
  • Elections Act - Blind and Partially Sighted Voters
  • Elections Act - Electoral Commission
  • Elections Act - First Past the Post
  • Elections Act - Joint Campaigning
  • Electric Scooter Trial Concerns
  • Electronic Collars
  • Electronic Communications Code
  • Elephants and Ivory Sales
  • Eligibility for Free School Meals Under Universal Credit
  • Emissions Trading Scheme
  • Ending Homelessness (Shelter Campaign)
  • Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
  • Energy Bill
  • Energy Bills for Families with Disabled Children
  • Energy Charter Treaty
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Price Cap
  • Energy Security Strategy
  • Environmental Land Management Schemes
  • Epilepsy
  • Epilepsy: Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
  • Equality Act 2010 (Biological Sex Matters Campaign)
  • Ethical Research
  • EveryDoctor’s #ReviveTheNHS Campaign
  • Exempt Accommodation
  • Experiments on Animals and the Use of Fur for Bearskin Caps
  • Fair Fuel APPG
  • Farmed Fish
  • Federated Data Platform (Palantir)
  • Fertility Inequality
  • Financial Services and Markets Bill
  • Fire and Rehire Tactics
  • Fireworks
  • Fireworks (Animals)
  • Football Governance
  • Football Index
  • Fraudulent Reviews of Businesses
  • Free Bus Travel Scheme
  • Free School Meals to All Children in Educational Settings
  • Free Speech
  • Free Trade Agreement with Australia
  • Frequent Flyer Levy
  • Fuel Poverty
  • Funding for Fire and Rescue Services
  • Funding for Transport for London
  • Fur Trade
  • Future of the TV Licence
  • Gas Boilers
  • Gaza
  • Gender Recognition Act 2004
  • Gene Editing and Animal Welfare
  • Genetic Technology
  • Global Food Security
  • Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
  • Glue Traps
  • Good Law Project & Runnymede: Mike Coupe & Dido Harding
  • Government Contracts
  • Green Alternatives to Gas Boilers
  • Green Finance
  • Green Investment - 2021 Spending Review
  • Green New Deal
  • Group B Streptococcus
  • Guide Dogs
  • Hamas
  • Hate Crime (Misogyny)
  • Health and Care Bill
  • Health and Care Bill: Privatisation
  • Health and Care Bill: Workforce
  • Health and Care for Older People
  • Health and Disability Green Paper
  • Health Impacts of the Climate Crisis
  • Heat Pumps
  • Hedgehogs
  • Hedgerows
  • HGV Driver Shortage
  • High Street Rental Auctions
  • Historic Landscapes
  • Homelessness
  • Holiday Lets
  • Hospices and the Cost of Energy
  • Housing and the Queen’s Speech
  • Housing Emergency (Shelter)
  • Housing First
  • HS2 and the Environment
  • HS2: Cost Transparency
  • HS2: General
  • Human Rights Act
  • Human Rights in Bahrain
  • Humanitarian Situation in East Africa
  • Hunger and Conflict
  • Hunting Act 2004
  • Identity Verification
  • Illegal Migration Bill
  • Improving Access to the Countryside
  • Income Tax and the State Pension
  • Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review
  • Independent Review of Children's Social Care
  • Independent Sector Providers and the NHS
  • India Trade Deal
  • Integrated Care Boards and Private Sector Providers
  • Intellectual Property
  • Interest on Student Loans
  • International Climate Finance
  • International Treaty for Pandemic Preparedness
  • Introducing Extended Producer Responsibility: Glass
  • Iran: Human Rights
  • Islamophobia
  • Israel: Amnesty International
  • Ivory Sales
  • Jagtar Singh Johal
  • Jerusalem
  • Jim Fitton
  • Judicial Review
  • Julian Assange
  • Junk Food Advertising Ban
  • Keeping Primates as Pets
  • Kinship Carers
  • Labelling Reforms for Animal Welfare
  • Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (Childcare as Infrastructure)
  • Light Pollution
  • Live Animal Exports
  • Liver Disease
  • Living Wage and Key Workers
  • Loan Charge
  • Loans to Developing Countries
  • Local Government Spending Power
  • Local Housing Allowance
  • Long COVID
  • March of the Mummies Protest
  • Maternity Services
  • Meadows and Grasslands
  • Medicinal Cannabis
  • Menopause
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health (Children and Young People)
  • Mental Health Emergency Helpline
  • Mental Health Support for NHS Staff
  • Midwifery Units
  • Migrant Channel Crossings
  • Mileage Rates
  • Military Courts in Israel
  • Military Exports to Saudi Arabia
  • Modern Employment Practices
  • Modern Slavery
  • Motor Neurone Disease
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • National Air Pollution Control Programme
  • National Care Service
  • National Insurance Contributions
  • National Security
  • National Security Bill (Torture and Unlawful Killing)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Accommodation for Asylum Seekers)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Clause 9)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Clause 11)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Overseas Asylum Processing)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Unaccompanied Children)
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
  • Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • Neonicotinoids
  • Neurological Conditions
  • New Plan for Immigration
  • NHS Digital and the Handling of Patient Data
  • Nigeria: Mubarak Bala
  • Non-Religious Belief (Human Rights)
  • Ocean Protection
  • Offshore Wind
  • Oil Drilling and Cambo Oil Field
  • Oil Licenses
  • Online Gambling
  • Online Marketplaces (Regulation)
  • Online Safety Bill (Internet Regulation)
  • Online Safety Bill (Misinformation)
  • Online Safety Bill (Online Child Sexual Abuse)
  • Online Safety Bill (Pornography)
  • Online Safety Bill (Private Communications)
  • Online Safety Bill (Protecting Children from Online Porn)
  • Online Safety Bill (Suicide and Self-Harm)
  • Online Safety Bill (Women and Girls)
  • Online Scams and Fraud
  • Onshore Wind
  • Onshore Wind (Planning)
  • Pakistan (Human Rights)
  • Palestinian Human Right Defenders
  • Palestinian Political Prisoners
  • Palliative Care
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Parental Bereavement
  • Parental Leave
  • Park Homes
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Pavement Parking
  • Peat
  • Pension Credit
  • Persecution of Christians in Nigeria and the Universal Periodic Review
  • Pet Microchipping
  • Pet Smuggling: Cats
  • Pet Theft
  • Pharmacy
  • Pig Welfare
  • Plant Based Treaty
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Police and Sarah Everard Case
  • Polluter Pays Bill
  • Prescription Charges
  • Primary School Assessments
  • Prisons (Violence) Bill
  • Privacy Laws in the UK
  • Private Jets
  • Private Rented Sector
  • Procurement Bill
  • Proportional Property Tax
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Protection of Pollinators
  • Protections for Nature
  • Protests - Abortion Clinics
  • Public Inquiry on COVID-19
  • Public Order Bill
  • Public Order Bill and Bill of Rights
  • Public Sector Pensions
  • Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill
  • Puppy and Kitten Sales
  • Queen's Speech - Bill of Rights and Brexit Freedoms
  • Racing Greyhounds
  • Radiotherapy
  • Rail Vs Air Travel
  • Recovery of the Hospitality Sector
  • Reforming Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing
  • Reforming the Private Rented Sector
  • Regulation of Vaping
  • Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
  • Right to Protest (Public Order Act, Minimum Service Levels and Boycotts)
  • Right to Work Checks
  • Royal Mail
  • Sarcoma UK Drop-In Session
  • School Food
  • School Uniform
  • Scope Campaign
  • Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988
  • Security Situation in the West Bank
  • Sentencing (Dangerous Driving)
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Shared Parental Leave
  • Smoking
  • Snares
  • Social Care Cap (Means Test)
  • Social Care for Younger Adults
  • Spinal Cord Injury
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax
  • Standing Charges
  • Statutory Sick Pay
  • Stop and Search
  • Storm Overflows
  • Strikes
  • Student Doctors - Bursaries
  • Sudan
  • Support for Carers and Unpaid Carers
  • Support for Children and Young People Living with Cancer
  • Support for People Who Received Infected Blood
  • Support for People with Disabilities
  • Support for People Affected by Stroke
  • Support for Road Hauliers
  • Surrogacy
  • Sustainable Fashion
  • Sustainable Fishing in British Waters
  • Tax Avoidance
  • Teachers' Pay
  • Temporary Emergency Accommodation
  • Terminal Illness and Benefits
  • Terrorist Extremism
  • Ticket Offices at Railway Stations
  • Tourism and VAT
  • Transport Emissions and Air Quality
  • Transport for Disabled People
  • Trees and Woodlands
  • Triple Lock
  • Trophy Hunting
  • Trussell Trust Campaign: Food Bank Usage
  • UK Foreign Aid
  • UK Trade and Business Commission’s First Annual Report
  • UK’s 2050 Net Zero Emissions Target
  • UK's Relations with China
  • Ultra Low Emission Zone
  • UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change
  • Unaccompanied Child Migrants in the UK
  • Universal Credit
  • Universities: Antisemitism (IHRA Definition)
  • Uplands
  • Vaccination of Children Around the World
  • Valerie's Law
  • Vaping
  • Vaping (Environment)
  • VAT and Energy Bills
  • VAT on Electric Vehicle Charging in Public Places
  • Violence Against Women and Girls
  • Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access
  • Voter ID
  • Voter ID (Student ID)
  • Voting System
  • Wages for Apprenticeships
  • Warm This Winter Campaign
  • Water Fluoridation
  • Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Developing Countries
  • Wealth Taxes
  • Windsor Framework
  • Winter Fuel Payment
  • Women’s Health Strategy - Miscarriages
  • Worker Protection Bill
  • Young People’s Wellbeing
  • Youth Homelessness

Andrew Selous MP South West Bedfordshire

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