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 potential effect of the merger of NHS England and Health Education England on the implementation of the NHS long-term workforce plan.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has been developed jointly by NHS England and Health Education England (HEE), reflecting their close working relationship irrespective of the merger. The merger builds on cooperation and joint working between HEE and NHS England and will help ensure that the merged organisation performs its functions as effectively as possible, including on the implementation of the Long-Term Workforce Plan.

The Department will continue to monitor and track the performance of the new NHS England through the NHS England mandate.