Thank you all for supporting our petition against the privatisation of the Facilities Service at York Teaching NHS Trust. The claims that setting up an arms-length company is not in itself privatisation is a distraction, as once on its own the company would be ripe for take-over, and that being outside the NHS new staff could be recruited on lower terms & conditions from those transferred across. Other than as a VAT-fiddle there is no good reason for this exercise, and the government might better exercise its will in resolving tax anomalies that put the NHS in this situation.