Neighbourhood Health Services

Baroness Pidgeon Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Baroness set out exactly what the plan is, and I am grateful to her for doing so, but I emphasise that the whole point of the independent national evaluation is that it will evaluate the whole breadth of neighbourhood health. It started in April and will run for three years. I further emphasise that it is about continual engagement and developing different ways that neighbourhood health can be successful. It will also model what the long-term outcomes and improvements can be, depending on how you do it. All that will mean working with the local ICBs to see about their progress, but they are well aware of the expectations upon them, and they will set their own ways forward.

[Baroness Pidgeon (LD)]

My Lords, if neighbourhood health services are to succeed, more care will be delivered through general practice and community settings, yet NHS funding allocated to general practice has fallen over the last decade. Will the Government consider introducing a primary care investment standard to ensure primary care can grow in line with this ambition?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

We do not intend to bring forward the investment standard that the noble Baroness seeks. I am aware that a discussion is going on—probably as we speak—through the Health Bill, which is about to be introduced to your Lordships’ House. That is about increasing accountability and responsiveness to local needs and improving outcomes. I say to the noble Baroness that our fear is that bringing in yet another approach, through an investment standard, risks undermining that.