Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Departments policies of the conclusion of the Office for Budget Responsibility's Fiscal Sustainability Report that tax rises or budget cuts are necessary to deliver the proposed funding increases for the NHS.

The Prime Minister has announced that the National Health Service budget will grow by over £20 billion a year in real terms by 2023-24. It is now up to NHS leaders to produce a new ten-year plan, led by clinicians, professionals and supported by local health and care systems across the country. The final settlement will be confirmed at a future fiscal event, subject to a plan that delivers the efficiency, productivity, and performance improvements necessary to address the long-term cost pressures highlighted by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

As the Prime Minister set out, some of this funding will be paid for by us no longer having to send annual membership subscriptions to the European Union after we have left. The commitment the Government is making goes beyond this, and so the Prime Minister has been clear that taxpayers will have to make a greater contribution, in a fair and balanced way. The Government will listen to views about how we do this and the Chancellor will set out the details in due course.