NHS England Update

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

We absolutely need to reduce the cost of agency staff in the NHS. That costs the taxpayer billions, and that money could be better spent on ensuring that we have the right staff in the right place, on better terms and conditions, and with permanent contracts. Where we do need flexibility, we should drive it through the NHS bank. We are determined to reform the way that works and deliver better staffing, better outcomes for patients and better value for taxpayers.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

I welcome any measures to reduce the bureaucratic overload in the NHS, so I congratulate the Secretary of State on coming forward with his bold plan. We must also take a sledgehammer to the business case process, which frustrates the delivery of services and new buildings for the NHS. Will he consider bringing NHS-owned land into use for new care facilities and step-down hospitals, for example, so that we can free up hospital beds and get people into the care they need at a much lower cost?

[Wes Streeting]

The hon. Member is absolutely right: the estate is vast, it is underutilised, and we need to sweat our assets more effectively. We also need to reform bureaucratic processes. There are lots of reasons why we need to have tough controls on things such as spending, procurement and value for money, to ensure that there is appropriate and effective use of public money. But businesses do not operate in this way; they are able to counter fraud, waste and poor value for money, and they do it much faster. That is what the NHS needs to do. Across the public sector, we need to use our estate far more effectively to deliver better value and better services for the public.