CORPORATION TAX AND VAT EXEMPTIONS FOR PRIVATE NHS PROVIDERS

That this House is concerned by the proposals being considered by the Fair Playing Field consultation that private companies operating NHS services could soon be exempt from paying corporation tax and VAT on their profits; notes that these proposals highlight a worrying trend of increasing involvement from the private sector that fundamentally affects the ability of the NHS to operate in the public interest; further notes that it is already to the patient's detriment that profits are made through a taxpayer-funded NHS, but to absolve private firms from paying tax on their profits is a cause of even greater alarm; suggests that this proposal, if accepted, would threaten the fundamental public service ethos that the NHS was founded on, and would highlight the incompatibility between private profit and the NHS's duty as a public healthcare provider; further notes that private companies providing a for-profit NHS service already benefit from generous taxpayer subsidies that they are spared, for example, the costs the NHS bears for training doctors and nurses; calls on the Government to introduce new regulations so that only companies fully compliant with UK tax laws can bid for NHS contracts and private health companies, who base themselves overseas for tax purposes, should be barred from bidding for NHS contracts; and asks that any profit private firms make from the NHS should be taxable in the United Kingdom.