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Written question asked by Debbie Abrahams (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 June 2014, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 June 2014 (named day). It was answered by Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 30 June 2014 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

NHS: Mergers

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the (a) Competition Commission and (b) Office of Fair Trading spent on assessing mergers in the NHS in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14.

Answer

The Competition Commission's (CC's) inquiry into the proposed merger between Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital Foundation Trust, which was concluded in 2013/14, was the Commission's only assessment of an NHS foundation trust merger. The cost of this inquiry was £710,000, which includes the cost of the staff on the inquiry amounting to £639,000 and direct costs of £71,000 (including survey costs).

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not collect specific information on the resources used in considering mergers involving NHS foundation trusts. However, the average approximate cost involved in scrutiny of a merger by the OFT was £20,000; in total, the OFT considered four mergers involving NHS foundation trusts in 2012-13 and 2013-14, of which only one was referred for further scrutiny by the CC.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
202460; 583 c468W
Session
2014-15
Subjects
Competition Commission Expenditure NHS Mergers Office of Fair Trading
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk