Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer on 18 March 2026 to Question 119476, how much and what proportion of funding for the practice‑level general practice reimbursement scheme is repurposed funding.

The £292 million of funding for the practice-level general practice (GP) reimbursement scheme is all repurposed funding from the previous primary care network level Capacity and Access Payment (CAP) scheme.

The 2025/26 contract ringfenced £292 million of funding for CAP to support network-level activities to support access, for example supporting primary care network wide digital triage and telephony and providing additional clinical capacity.

In response to feedback during the 2026/27 consultation that increasing GP numbers is the single most important factor in improving access sustainably, we are introducing a practice‑level GP reimbursement scheme funded by repurposing the £292 million previously allocated to CAP. This change will give practices greater flexibility to recruit additional GPs or to fund additional sessions from existing GPs, supporting access in a way that reflects local circumstances.

We have recruited over 3,000 GPs, preventing them from graduating into unemployment, and increasing clinical capacity. As of January 2026, over 2,000 are actively in post. This is double the 1,000 target we set.