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 December 2024 to Question 16662 on NHS: Public Consultation, what the budget is for deliberative engagement by type of spend in the 2024-25 financial year.

The public and staff must be at the centre of the development of the plan to make the National Health Service fit for the future, so that it makes a positive impact on their day-to-day lives. That is why we are running as series of in-depth deliberative events and have launched an open platform to hear from members of the public, and those who work in health and care.

Following an invitation to tender the competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and the Institute for Public Policy Research to support us to run this engagement exercise. A breakdown by type of spend is not available, for commercial confidentiality reasons.