§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the decision by the Office of Fair Trading not to include the impact of local authorities' purchasing power on the financial viability of nursing homes in its investigation into nursing homes. [178141]
§ Mr. Sutcliffe[holding answer 14 June 2004]The Office of Fair Trading is an independent body, and Ministers have no role to play in relation to its decisions about the conduct of market studies.