I beg to move,

That this House declines to give a Second Reading to a Bill which, by establishing Foundation Trusts and introducing other layers of bureaucracy, would increase disparities between hospitals and detract from the Government's commitment to a primary care led NHS, free from excessive bureaucracy, and believes that alternative ways of encouraging accountability in the NHS should be considered and a consensus established before legislation is introduced.

Question put, That the amendment be made:-

The House divided: Ayes 117, Noes 297.

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Main Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 62 (Amendment on Second or Third Reading):-

The House divided: Ayes 304, Noes 230.

The Aye-voters failed to pass an amendment to remove the foundation trust proposals from the bill.

Amendment No. 164, in page 1, line 4, leave out clause 1.

The majority of MPs voted in favour of the introduction of NHS foundation trusts; bodies with a degree of financial and managerial independence from the Department of Health.

The Aye-voters successfully rejected a Lords wrecking amendment.

The motion being voted on was:

• That this House disagrees with the Lords in the said amendment:

The Lords amendment in question, No. 1, stated leave out clause 1

Clause 1 defines "NHS foundation trusts".

Shortly after the division there were several points of order noting that Scottish MPs' votes were required to pass the bill, but that the bill only affects England and Wales.

The Aye-voters struck down the Lords' wrecking amendment to the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill, which had just been introduced a second time during their debate.

The Lords' amendment would have removed Clause 1 from the Bill, which refers to Schedule 1 which lays out the structure of the constitution of a Foundation Hospital.

The original striking out of the same Lords amendment happened earlier in the day in Division 381. The comparison of these two votes is available at this page.

*Pressure of other work means MPs or Lords are not always available to vote – it does not always indicate they have abstained. Therefore, being absent on a less important vote makes a disproportionatly small difference.