§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it the policy of his Department to decline to advise health boards on ways of arranging transferring services to trusts so that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 do not apply.
§ Mr. StewartNo such advice has been given by my Department. As indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Galbraith) on 23 February at column 565, health boards and trusts have been advised to seek legal advice on the applicability of transfer of undertakings regulations in relation to specific proposals for the market testing of services.