NHS England: Staff Costs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The point that the noble Baroness raises is not a new one. As anyone from the local government sphere will know, there are always ongoing conversations about the estate, where it lies, its ownership and how we can move it into the future, and I do not think anything has changed. What we know is that, through these changes, the alignment of public services is going to be fundamental. The use of buildings is a vexed issue across the public sector and will need to be on the table.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, to come back to the Question from the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, about an impact assessment, does the Minister think it might be a good idea to do an impact assessment of NHS England itself, which both the parties opposite forced through in 2011, at a cost of £3.5 billion? As a result, waiting times increased, staff disenchantment increased and patient satisfaction went down. Should we not have an impact assessment on that?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My Lords, the evidence for that is becoming only too clear. That is why the Government have taken the action that they have to move at pace towards dealing with the situation. Too much money is going into bureaucracy and therefore not enough into front-line services. That needs to change, and this has been welcomed from all sides of the House.