§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria he will use to determine when an NHS trust might be made subject of a franchise arrangement. [13510]
§ Mr. Huttonif a national health service body is not performing one of its functions adequately or at all, or there are significant failings in the way the trust is being run my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has the powers, under section 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, to intervene.
In the case of NHS trusts that have recently received a zero star performance rating they are required to provide an action plan, agreed with the Department, to address the particular areas of performance which they need to improve. Franchise arrangements will only be considered if these trusts fail to make progress against their action plan.