Health and Social Care Act 2012

Licensing procedureE+W

85Application for licenceE+W

(1)A person seeking to hold a licence under this Chapter must make an application to [F1NHS England].

(2)The application must be made in such form, and contain or be accompanied by such information, as [F2NHS England] requires.

86Licensing criteriaE+W

(1)[F3NHS England] must set and publish the criteria which must be met by a person in order for that person to be granted a licence under this Chapter.

(2)[F3NHS England] may revise the criteria and, if it does so, must publish them as revised.

(3)[F3NHS England] may not set or revise the criteria unless the Secretary of State has by order approved the criteria or (as the case may be) revised criteria.

87Grant or refusal of licenceE+W

(1)This section applies where an application for a licence has been made under section 85.

(2)If [F4NHS England] is satisfied that the applicant meets the criteria for holding a licence for the time being published under section 86 it must as soon as reasonably practicable grant the application; otherwise it must refuse it.

(3)On granting the application, [F5NHS England] must issue a licence to the applicant.

(4)A licence issued under this section is subject to—

(a)such of the standard conditions (see section 94) as are applicable to the licence, [F6and]

(b)such other conditions included in the licence by virtue of section 95 (referred to in this Chapter as “the special conditions”), [F7and]

(c)[F7any conditions included in the licence by virtue of section 111 (imposition of licence conditions on NHS foundation trusts during transitional period).]

[F887AApplication and grant: NHS trustsE+W

(1)An NHS trust established under section 25 of the National Health Service Act 2006 is to be treated, on its establishment, as—

(a)having made an application for a licence under section 85, and

(b)having met the criteria for holding a licence for the time being published under section 86.

(2)An NHS trust established under section 25 of the National Health Service Act 2006 before the day on which section 51(1) of the Health and Care Act 2022 comes into force is to be treated, for the purposes of subsection (1), as having been established on that day.]

88Application and grant: NHS foundation trustsE+W

[F9(1)This section applies where—

(a)an NHS trust becomes an NHS foundation trust in pursuance of section 36 of the National Health Service Act 2006 (effect of authorisation of NHS foundation trust), or

(b)an NHS foundation trust is established under sections 56 or 56B of that Act (mergers and separations).]

(2)The NHS foundation trust is to be treated by [F10NHS England] as having—

(a)duly made an application for a licence under section 85, and

(b)met the criteria for holding a licence for the time being published under section 86.

(3)An NHS foundation trust in existence on the day on which this section comes into force is to be treated for the purposes of this section as having become an NHS foundation trust pursuant to section 36 of the National Health Service Act 2006 on that day.

89Revocation of licenceE+W

[F11NHS England] may at any time revoke a licence under this Chapter—

(a)on the application of the licence holder, or

(b)if [F11NHS England] is satisfied that the licence holder has failed to comply with a condition of the licence.

90Right to make representationsE+W

(1)[F12NHS England] must give notice—

(a)to an applicant for a licence under this Chapter of a proposal to refuse the application;

(b)to the licence holder of a proposal to revoke a licence under section 89(b).

(2)A notice under this section must—

(a)set out [F13NHS England’s] reasons for its proposal;

(b)specify the period within which representations with respect to the proposal may be made to [F14NHS England].

(3)The period so specified must be not less than 28 days beginning with the day after that on which the notice is received.

91Notice of decisionsE+W

(1)This section applies if [F15NHS England] decides to—

(a)refuse an application for a licence under section 87, or

(b)revoke a licence under section 89(b).

(2)[F16NHS England] must give notice of its decision to the applicant or the licence holder (as the case may be).

(3)A notice under this section must explain the right of appeal conferred by section 92.

(4)A decision of [F17NHS England] to revoke a licence under section 89(b) takes effect on such day as may be specified by [F17NHS England], being a day no earlier than—

(a)if an appeal is brought under section 92, the day on which the decision on appeal is confirmed or the appeal is abandoned,

(b)where the licence holder notifies [F17NHS England] before the end of the period for bringing an appeal under section 92 that the licence holder does not intend to appeal, the day on which [F17NHS England] receives the notification, or

(c)the day after that period.

92Appeals to the TribunalE+W

(1)An appeal lies to the First-tier Tribunal against a decision of [F18NHS England] to—

(a)refuse an application for a licence under section 87, or

(b)revoke a licence under section 89(b).

(2)The grounds for an appeal under this section are that the decision was—

(a)based on an error of fact,

(b)wrong in law, or

(c)unreasonable.

(3)On an appeal under this section, the First-tier Tribunal may—

(a)confirm [F19NHS England’s] decision,

(b)direct that the decision is not to have effect, or

(c)remit the decision to [F20NHS England].

93Register of licence holdersE+W

(1)[F21NHS England] must maintain and publish a register of licence holders.

(2)The register may contain such information as [F21NHS England] considers appropriate for the purpose of keeping members of the public informed about licence holders including, in particular, information about the revocation of any licence under this Chapter.

(3)[F21NHS England] must secure that copies of the register are available at its offices for inspection at all reasonable times by any person.

(4)Any person who asks [F21NHS England] for a copy of, or an extract from, the register is entitled to have one.

(5)Regulations may provide that subsections (3) and (4) do not apply—

(a)in such circumstances as may be prescribed, or

(b)to such parts of the register as may be prescribed.

(6)A fee determined by [F22NHS England] is payable for the copy or extract except—

(a)in such circumstances as may be prescribed, or

(b)in any case where [F22NHS England] considers it appropriate to provide the copy or extract free of charge.