§ Mr. WatsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the extent to which the prevention of an in-house bid in the competitive tendering process for support services in respect of Victoria hospital, Glasgow NHS trust complied with Government guidelines. [27052]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe in-house service was not prevented from bidding for the contract for support services; it was free to bid for the contract on the same basis as commercial tenderers. In addition, the trust offered to fund independent external advice for any staff group who wished to mount a bid. The offer was not taken up and no in-house bid was made.