Written questions by Shastri-Hurst.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40741 on Health Services: Public Consultation, how much his Department has spent on in-person engagement activities to inform the development of the 10-Year Health Plan.

Following an invitation to tender competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and IPPR to support us in running the engagement exercise for the 10-Year Health Plan. The awarded value of the contract is up to £2,961,595.50, with an option to vary to £3,500,000 in the event that the scope of the contract evolves. This includes running in-person deliberative engagement events with members of the public and health and care staff, further online and in-person engagement activities, the Change NHS online portal, and the analysis of the insight received.The details of this award and redacted contracts can be found on the 10 Year Health Plan Engagement Exercise Contracts Finder on the GOV.UK website. Information regarding the breakdown of the overall costs can be found from page 118 of the contract. However, this information is exempt under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which exempts from the general duty to release information which would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any entity, including the public authority holding the information.

From what date patients who are prescribed antidepressants will be able to access mental health support from community pharmacies.

The New Medicine Service (NMS) is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions, including asthma and hypertension.Early interventions of this type can improve medication adherence, patient outcomes, and can reduce pressure on the wider National Health Service. From October 2025, the NMS will expand to introduce depression as a further therapeutic area for which patients can receive support.

What estimate his Department has made of the cost to community pharmacies of changes in the level of (a) employer National Insurance contributions, (b) business rates and (c) the National Minimum Wage from 1 April 2025.

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage and employer national insurance when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled New services for patients under record pharmacy funding deal, published on 31 March 2025, what proportion of the additional funding for community pharmacies was allocated to meet the cost of increases to (a) employer National Insurance Contributions (b) business rates and (c) National Minimum Wage in (i) 2024/25 and (ii) 2025/26.

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage and employer national insurance when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on (a) training and (b) development programmes for NHS staff.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds. The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job. We will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up, and getting waiting times down.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the (a) regulation and (b) oversight of clinical commissioning groups.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds. The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job. We will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up, and getting waiting times down.

What steps he is taking to manage the redistribution of NHS England's (a) assets and (b) resources.

Ministers and senior officials in Department will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. Work has begun immediately to start bringing teams in NHS England and the Department together, and over the next two years, NHS England and the Department will combine to form a new joint centre.We are currently scoping the programme for this change, which will include an approach to the assets and resources of NHS England.The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job. We will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up, and getting waiting times down. The expected millions of pounds savings made by this transformation will be reinvested in frontline services to deliver better care for patients.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the implementation of the NHS 10 year plan.

We do not envisage that the changes set out by the Prime Minister on 13 March 2025 will affect the implementation of the 10-Year Health Plan. We still intend to publish the plan in spring 2025.The changes will set the National Health Service up to deliver on the three big shifts needed to make the service fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on partnerships with external healthcare organizations.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.We recognise the role that external healthcare organisations have across our healthcare system, and we will continue to work closely with these organisations throughout the transition.

What assessment he has made of the role of the Care Quality Commission in the new NHS structure post NHS England.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. The whole health and care sector, including all relevant Arms Length Bodies, needs to work effectively for patients.

What steps he is taking to ensure (a) data protection and (b) privacy during the transfer of NHS England's functions.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.It will remain the policy of the Department and NHS England before, during, and after this transition that information relating to people’s identifiable health and care is shared appropriately, lawfully, and in line with their reasonable expectations.

What steps he is taking to maintain research and innovation initiatives overseen by NHS England.

Ministers and senior officials in the Department will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to ensure that layers of bureaucracy are cut and more resources flow to the frontline. We will continue to work with NHS England to ensure there is continuity of funding for National Health Service trusts during this transition period.The Department remains committed to funding health and care research and will continue to support research and development throughout the transition process and beyond.As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we will continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.

What steps he plans to take to ensure there is continuity of funding for NHS trusts during the NHS abolition transition period.

Ministers and senior officials in the Department will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to ensure that layers of bureaucracy are cut and more resources flow to the frontline. We will continue to work with NHS England to ensure there is continuity of funding for National Health Service trusts during this transition period.The Department remains committed to funding health and care research and will continue to support research and development throughout the transition process and beyond.As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we will continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.

Which patient groups his Department has engaged in the development of the 10-Year Health Plan.

As well as engaging with patient groups, we have worked hard to engage the patients they represent directly. To engage with patients and the public, we launched Change NHS, the biggest ever conversation about the National Health Service since its creation, with over 190,000 contributions, and 1.6 million visits to our online portal so far. This is aiming to be broadly representative of England's population.Additional community engagement has focussed on engagement with seldom heard groups. We’ve worked closely with charities, faith groups, health and care providers, local government, and others, to ensure we hear from demographics and communities that may experience barriers to being involved, and to whom the Government often fails to reach.Further to this, we have also engaged and heard from over 1,600 stakeholder partners, over a quarter of whom advocate for different patient groups.

When his Department plans to publish the revised NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

No set date has been agreed for publication, as the wider work of the 10-Year Health Plan and the forthcoming Spending Review will influence the timing of the revised Long Term Workforce Plan later this year.

When he expects a new Chief Digital Officer to be appointed in NHS England.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to determine the structure and requirements of the team required to support the creation of a new centre for health and care.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of redundancy payments to staff in (a) the Department of Health and Social Care, (b) NHS England and (c) Integrated Care Boards.

We recognise there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years as a result of a smaller, leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.

In what month this year he expects the National Cancer Plan to be published.

The National Cancer Plan will be published in the second half of 2025, after the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan. To help inform the content of the National Cancer Plan, on 4 February 2025, the Department launched a Call for Evidence, inviting people from across the country to share their views on what they think should be included within the plan. The Call for Evidence will close on 29 April 2025. We will provide updates on the development of the plan, including on publication dates, in due course. Those who wish to share their views can do so on the new online platform. Further information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan

What the cost to the public purse has been of the 11 working groups supporting the development of the 10-Year Health Plan to date.

Most members of working groups, including the chairs, were not compensated for their participation in the groups, and took on group membership as part of, or alongside, their usual role. In a small number of cases, where members of the groups brought their lived experience as a patient or carer to the group, they were compensated for their time in line with usual NHS England practice. Many of the working group meetings took place virtually. Some in-person working group meetings incurred minimal catering costs. Travel and accommodation costs were reimbursed in a small number of cases by exception, and with the prior agreement of the Department or NHS England.

How much his Department has spent on (a) consultation and (b) all forms of engagement for the 10-Year Health Plan since 4 July 2024.

Following an invitation to tender a competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and the Institute For Public Policy Research to support us to run this engagement exercise. The awarded value of the contract is up to £2,961,595.50, with an option to vary to £3,500,000 in the event that the scope of the contract evolves. This includes running the regional deliberative events with members of the public and health and care staff, further online and in-person engagement activities, the Change NHS online portal, and analysis of the insight received.