§ Mr KynochTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make a statement on the application of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 to the market testing of public services in Scotland.
§ Mr. LangMy right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has today placed in the Library guidance on the implications for market testing of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations. I also refer my hon. Friend to the separate statements which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health are making on specific issues raised by the application of the regulations to their areas of responsibility.
I hope that the guidance and statements will be helpful to all those involved in market testing, including compulsory competitive tendering, to the extent that they set out circumstances in which the regulations are, and are 713W not, likely to apply, and explain their effect where they do. My Departments and the NHS in Scotland are pressing ahead with their extensive programmes of market testing. I am confident that innovative proposals will be produced, offering good value for money, whether or not the regulations apply.
Local authorities, of course, must conduct compulsory competitive tendering according to the relevant legislation. If in the light of all the circumstances of any individual case, it appears to me that a local authority has behaved so as to unlawfully restrict, distort or prevent competition, I will consider taking statutory action.