§ Ms PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on the privatisation of national health service trading undertakings.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Government are committed to a publicly funded health service with national health service units, both trusts and directly managed units, firmly within the public sector. However, our policy is to encourage health service bodies to concentrate their management skills on the core activities of the NHS and to use their expertise, where possible, to seek better value for money and improved quality in the provision of non-core activities. If trading undertakings prove to be commercially viable, we would expect that they would ultimately become independent businesses.