Committee publication · Correspondence · 7 April 2025
Correspondence from the SoS relating to the NHSE Merger
From: Health and Social Care Committee
Inquiry: The work of NHS England
Summary
Secretary of State Wes Streeting writes to the Health and Social Care Committee Chair ahead of his appearance on 8 April 2025 to outline the government's plan to abolish NHS England and integrate its functions into the Department of Health and Social Care. He argues this removes bureaucratic layers and duplication, enabling resources to reach the frontline. Primary legislation will be required to formally abolish NHS England as a non-departmental public body.
Key findings
- The government plans to abolish NHS England and merge it into the Department of Health and Social Care to eliminate duplication and bureaucratic layers, with administrative changes underway led by Sir Jim Mackey.
- Formal abolition of NHS England as a non-departmental public body requires primary legislation, which the government will bring forward 'when Parliamentary time allows'.
- The merger is positioned as necessary to implement the government's Health Mission and Plan for Change, with further details to follow in the 10 Year Health Plan.
- Streeting characterises the 2012 NHS restructuring as 'disastrous', arguing it added unnecessary bureaucracy and trapped staff in a broken system with unclear accountability lines.
- The government is assessing all functions of both organisations, including those previously handled by Health Education England, NHS Improvement, NHS X and NHS Digital, with engagement planned with staff and trade unions.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Wes Streeting, Layla Moran, Sir Jim Mackey, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England
Notable line
“This reform is about simplifying processes, eliminating waste, and putting patients at the heart of a more streamlined and efficient system.”
Key Quotes
“This change will remove layers of bureaucracy, end the duplication of work across organisations, allowing additional resources to be put back into the frontline.”
“The disastrous top-down 2012 restructuring added more layers of unnecessary bureaucracy to a system already facing enormous challenge.”
“NHS England cannot be formally abolished as a non-departmental public body without primary legislation, which we will bring forward when Parliamentary time allows.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗