Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what legislation will be required or amended to legally abolish NHS England; and what functions and powers held by NHS England cannot be transferred to other bodies until new legislation is enacted.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

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 needed to support the creation of a new centre for health and care.

Primary legislation will be required, and we intend to bring this forward when Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the use of £105 million of public money being made available to reopen Sheffield Doncaster Airport, and what assessment they have made of the value for money of that project.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Regional airports like Doncaster Sheffield Airport serve our local communities and businesses, support thousands of jobs and act as a gateway to international opportunities. They also help to maintain social and family ties and strengthen the bonds between our four nations.

Assessing the value for money case for public money being used to support the airport reopening is the responsibility of the relevant local authorities providing the funding. The City of Doncaster Council’s business case suggests the re-establishment of aviation within the region could support over 5,000 direct jobs and 6,500 indirect jobs and boost the economy by £6.6bn when fully operational.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 6 February (HL4386) about correspondence from the Tees Valley Mayor, whether they have now made a determination about the value for money of the Teesworks project and, if not, why not; and when they expect to publish a response to the Tees Valley Review and to the Mayor’s letter issued on 27 September 2024.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

On 3 April 2025 my department issued Tees Valley Combined Authority with a non-statutory Best Value Notice for an initial period of 12 months. The Notice seeks assurance from the authority that it is complying with its Best Value Duty and has a clear strategy for improvement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what provision they have made for redundancy payments for the abolition of NHS England, and the reduction in size of integrated care boards.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise that there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake changes to integrated care boards and 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.

Found: Elliott of Mickle Fell; Baroness Goudie; Baroness Hodgson of Abinger; Lord Hope of Craighead; Lord Scriven