Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is his Department's policy that contracts associated with the formation of Accountable Care Organisations will not be outsourced to the private sector.

In the very small number of places where local commissioners are running procurements for the award of such contracts, local National Health Service foundation trusts, NHS trusts and general practitioners have been selected as partners for delivery of those contracts.

The selection of an appropriate provider to hold such a contract will continue to be a matter for local NHS commissioners, and those commissioners must make that selection by way of a process which is compliant with the requirements of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. These involve openness, transparency and equal treatment of potential providers.