Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will confirm the statement made by the Minister for Health in his correspondence with the Member for Stockton North on the 25 January 2022 that there are currently no plans to merge the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust with South Tees NHS Foundation Trust.

There are currently no plans to formally merge North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust with South Tees NHS Foundation Trust. However, we are aware of proposals to increase working relationships between the Trusts. There have been no specific discussions on a proposed merger.