Part 1: Health Service in England: Integration, Collaboration and Other Changes Patient Choice and Provider Selection Section 79: Procurement regulations
This section inserts a new section 12ZB into the NHS Act 2006, after section 12ZA.
	Subsection (1) of the new section 12ZB enables the Secretary of State to make regulations in relation to the processes to be followed and objectives to be pursued by relevant authorities in the procurement of health care services for the purposes of the health service in England and the procurement of health care services as part of mixed procurements e.g. with social care services. The term procurement relates to the overall process that commissioners must follow when arranging health care services, the selection of providers to provide those services.
	Subsection (2) specifies that the regulations made under subsection (1) must include provision specifying steps to be taken when following a competitive tendering process.
	Subsection (3) states that the regulations must, in relation to the procurement of all health care services to which they apply, make provision for the purposes of ensuring transparency, ensuring fairness, ensuring that compliance can be verified and managing conflicts of interest.
	Subsection (4) requires that NHS England must publish such guidance as it considers appropriate about compliance with the regulations and subsection (5) places a requirement on the relevant authorities to have regard to the published guidance.
	Subsection (6) requires NHS England to obtain the approval of the Secretary of State before publishing guidance.
	Subsection (7) specifies the meaning of "relevant authority" in this section (a combined authority, an integrated care board, a local authority in England, NHS England, an NHS foundation trust, an NHS trust established under section 25); and the meaning of "health care service" as the definition given in Part 3 of the 2012 Act, which is all forms of health care provided for individuals, whether relating to physical or mental health.