§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what terms and conditions of employment within the National Health Service will apply once a self-governing trust is established.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyNHS trusts will remain firmly in the NHS. Staff who transfer from health authority to NHS trust employment will retain their existing contracts and all rights arising from them, subject to the substitution of the new employer for the old and any consequential technical changes. It will be open to NHS trusts to seek to introduce changes in existing contracts at any time after transfer. In doing so, they will be free to decide whether to continue to adopt NHS Whitley council conditions or to make alternative arrangements if they so wish.