Dear Constituent,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the National Health Service (Co-funding and Co-Payment) Bill.

This is a Private Members Bill which has almost no chance of making it through to the next stage of the parliamentary process. Often Private Members Bills are used to highlight particular problems and to spark intellectual debate.

In this case, my colleague Sir Christopher Chope MP has used this Private Members Bill to highlight the problems that will arise from the funding of the National Health Service in the long term. I too am concerned that we need to be realistic in planning for the future so that our NHS is maintained on a firm and strong foundation.

As such, I would like to reassure you that the provisions of this bill are extremely unlikely to make it into law.

Thank you again for taking the time to get in touch with me.

EDWARD LEIGH MP