Report (6th Day)

Part of Health and Social Care Bill – in the House of Lords at 12:15 pm on 8 March 2012.

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Photo of Earl Howe Earl Howe The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health 12:15, 8 March 2012

We would certainly expect boards of directors to satisfy themselves on that point through management accounting systems and, if necessary, produce the relevant evidence to governors, if a question were asked about that. I think that the point that we were alive to was the cost involved in compelling all foundation trusts-some of them hardly have any private income at all-to go to the trouble of producing statutory accounts and separating out those two income streams. Although my noble friend's question is well placed, it is perhaps a different question from the one that I was addressing.

We can allay all these anxieties in this area through one simple principle, and that is transparency. Today, I have tried to set out an open and transparent regime for the oversight of a foundation trust's planned increase to non-NHS income. The governors, as representatives of local communities, would hold the directors to account for ensuring that non-NHS activity does not significantly interfere with their foundation trust's principal legal purpose to provide NHS services. I think our proposals strike the right balance between the powers of the directors-