Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26430 on NHS England: Staff, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by NHS East of England Headquarters in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024; and what was the total salary for those employees in each of those years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of budgeted full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, specifically the number of budgeted posts rather than the number of staff currently employed, and the pay budget for NHS England East of England, each year from 2021/22 to 2024/25:
Year | Budgeted FTE staff | Pay budget |
2024/25 | 637 | £58,855,000 |
2023/24 | 578.24 | £45,045,000 |
2022/23 | 731.31 | £47,412,000 |
2021/22 | 599.99 | £39,366,000 |
Note: data for 2024/25 is as of the tenth month.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 27117 on Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust: Finance, what guidance his Department issues on the management steps that NHS Acute Trusts should take when they overspend their allocated budgets.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Oversight Framework, which is currently being refreshed, NHS England closely monitors the financial performance of providers and systems, intervening and providing support where there is concern about a risk of overspending against agreed plans. Organisations with the largest financial challenges will enter NHS England's Recovery Support Programme and receive assistance from the National Intensive Support Team to strengthen financial control. Full details of the NHS Oversight Framework, Recovery Support Programme and the guidance issued to all organisations are available on NHS England's website.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the merger of Basildon, Broomfield and Southend Hospital Trusts into the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The merger of Basildon, Broomfield, and Southend Hospitals in 2020 set out to improve health outcomes for the local population and unlock the financial savings required to deliver a sustainable health economy across the mid and south Essex footprint.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is working with the system on a medium-term plan that will review the merger benefits thus far and consider further improvements that need to be made to ensure the Trust and wider system are clinically, operationally and financially sustainable. Benefits realised since the merger include efficient and effective use of hospital beds and appointments, financial savings, and improved staff retention rates.
The Department is aware that the foundation trust entered the Recovery Support Programme in April 2024. The trust is subject to mandated support including national oversight and assurance of financial improvement.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the capital expenditure promised to Basildon, Broomfield and Southend hospitals as part of their merger into Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has been (a) allocated, (b) paid and (c) spent by that Trust.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The trust was awarded £118.6 million as part of the National Health Service upgrades programme for the reconfiguration of hospital services across three acute sites, namely Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Southend Hospital in Southend, and Basildon Hospital in Basildon. Between 2019/20 and 2024/25, the trust has accessed funding totalling £16.3 million that has been spent so far. More funding may be provided for completed work before the end of the financial year.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 27118 on NHS England: Pay, what the difference is between (a) operational max and (b) max exception zones in NHS Executive Senior Manager pay bands.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The operational maximum is the maximum salary rate NHS England can appoint without seeking permission from the Department. Salaries above the operational maximum require as a minimum approval from the Department’s Renumeration Committee, and depending on the amount, may also require approval from ministers and HM Treasury. Any salary above £150,000 requires approval from the Department’s ministers.
The exception zone max is the highest figure that the Department has been delegated from HM Treasury, and appointing a salary above the exception zone requires HM Treasury’s approval. It is also important to note that there are different operational and exception zone maximums depending on the grade of the NHS Executive Senior Manager role being appointed.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS East of England plans to publish an annual report for 2024-25.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service East of England is a regional team within NHS England, and as such they do not publish an annual report. The NHS England’s annual report and accounts includes the regional teams, other NHS England operations, and group bodies.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any directors of the Mid and South Essex Hospitals NHS Trust were paid any form of bonuses in financial years (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the renumeration, including bonuses, of senior staff is published by hospital trusts as part of their annual report and accounts. It is for the local Remuneration Committee of each National Health Service trust to approve bonuses for directors. The information for the Mid and South Essex Hospitals Trust is available at the following link:
https://www.mse.nhs.uk/trust-publications-and-reports?smbfolder=150
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the operating deficit for the Mid and South Essex Hospitals NHS Trust for financial years (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Trusts report their deficit position in their board reports, which are published on their websites. In 2023/24, the Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust reported an operating deficit of £29.7 million, resulting in the organisation being placed into the National Recovery Support Programme to receive support for improving its financial position.
The 2024/25 financial plan for the foundation trust was a deficit of £84.6 million, for which the organisation has received deficit support funding from NHS England. Following receipt of this funding, the foundation trust is forecast to breakeven, although this requires the trust to deliver improved positions in the final months of the year, as there is a year-to-date deficit at month seven of £23.1 million, according to their latest board report.
NHS England recently published 2025/6 Planning Guidance to support system financial planning for 2025/26. Finalised system financial plans for 2025/26 are currently being developed ahead of the start of the financial year, and so are not yet available.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed by the NHS East of England headquarters.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England East of England regional whole time equivalent for this establishment is 637. This is the number of posts, rather than the number of staff currently employed. The data for the total number of full-time equivalent staff employed is unvalidated and is subject to change, so it is not routinely published.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the salary band is of the Chief Operating Officer of the NHS East of England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The salary bands for the Regional Director, Finance Director, Strategy Director, and Chief Operating Officer for NHS East of England are as follows:
These bandings are the same across all of NHS England for these roles.