The Science, Innovation and Know-how Committee has known as for UK corporations to be prioritised for large NHS know-how contracts, slightly than US giants akin to Microsoft and Palantir.
Ian Murray, minister for digital authorities and knowledge, and Emily Middleton, director common of digital centre design on the Division for Science, Innovation and Know-how (DSIT), have been questioned at an oral proof session on 19 November 2025, as a part of the committee’s inquiry into the Digital Centre of Authorities.
Emily Darlington, Labour MP for Milton Keynes Central, questioned why the NHS is “counting on corporations like Palantir” — which was awarded a £330 million contract to function the NHS federated knowledge platform — slightly than UK corporations.
“We’re the second-most cyber-targeted nation on this planet, so constructing our UK trade and functionality is nice for our economic system, but additionally vital for public confidence and our safety,” Darlington stated.
Samantha Niblett, Labour MP for South Derbyshire, stated: “I’ve tried to promote to public sector in addition to personal sector organisations, and I do know for a reality how Microsoft have ripped off the NHS.”
She added that there was an MOU with Microsoft for £9bn, which is an intention of spend over a number of years and that in response to the Cupboard Workplace, the federal government spent a cumulative complete of £1.9bn on Microsoft software program licences through the first 5 months of the strategic partnership association.
“This speaks to procurement and the shopping for energy of Microsoft to lock in public sector prospects—though not simply public sector prospects.
“They’re enticed with low cost offers after which locked right into a contract and charged exponential quantities,” she stated.
Niblett highlighted that authorities departments have needed to pay to improve Microsoft Home windows 10 after it stopped receiving safety updates in October 2025.
“That has now resulted in them having to pay extra for safety checks as a result of they’re utilizing a really, very outdated model of Home windows.
“I simply marvel how a lot scrutiny and a spotlight is given to what looks like contract within the first occasion, getting locked in with a single supplier then finally ends up basically ripping off the taxpayer,” she stated.
In response, Murray stated that the Authorities Digital Service and DSIT “try to co-ordinate throughout authorities”.
“There’s a multitude of contracts throughout authorities for all sorts of various sorts of digital companies.
“We need to attempt to guarantee that that’s constant throughout authorities and that we get the perfect bang for our buck when it comes to economies of scale by shopping for it collectively—cloud companies being an enormous
instance of that,” he stated.
A spokesperson for Microsoft informed Digital Well being Information that the NHS purchases Microsoft companies by way of a nationwide pricing framework negotiated by the UK authorities, “making certain each transparency and worth for cash”.
“Microsoft’s partnership with the NHS continues to ship clear and measurable advantages – decreasing IT complexity, enhancing affected person outcomes, giving clinicians extra time to deal with care supply and serving to obtain substantial financial savings by way of extra environment friendly operations,” they stated.
