Liberal Democrat Minister Announces NHS Bill Re-Draft

The Government will amend controversial regulations governing tendering for NHS services following widespread concerns about the role of competition, MPs were told.

Liberal Democrat Minister of State at the Department of Health, Norman Lamb, made the announcement just days before his party's spring conference.

Summoned to the Commons to answer an urgent question, Mr Lamb said the regulations had "inadvertently created confusion and generated significant concerns".

He told MPs: "I have therefore listened to people's concerns and my department is acting quickly to improve the drafting so that there can be no doubt that the regulations go no further than the previous set of principles and rules inherited from the previous Labour government."