The Commerce Commission had received 11 submissions on the proposed Waikato Health and Midland Health mental health contracts by yesterday evening.
Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard said after an initial scan it appears 3 submissions support the contracts, 5 oppose them and 3 are neutral.
Wednesday was the deadline for submissions but Dr Bollard said some arrived yesterday and more are expected today. Copies of the submissions are being sent to all people and organisations who are interested parties and any late submissions will be sent to them next week.
Waikato Health and Midland Health have asked the Commission to authorise a 10-year contract for Waikato Health to provide mental health services and facilities to Midland Health.
Both parties to the contracts have said the contracts will substantially lessen competition. The Commerce Act prohibits such contracts. However, it allows them to be authorised if it can be shown that their public benefits are greater than their detriments to competition.
The Commission's preliminary view of the contracts, released recently as a draft determination, was that based on the information then available to it, at that stage it could not authorise them. The Commission's concern was that it had not yet been given enough information to compare public benefits and detriments to competition.
Dr Bollard said the Commission's investigation has been proceeding as planned since then with staff continuing research and interviews.
A conference of the applicants and interested parties will be held in the Wellington Town Hall on July 5-7.
"We expect to make a final determination by about July 26," Dr Bollard said.
