Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress she has made in the last 12 months in implementing the Bengoa recommendations for the health service in Northern Ireland.

The provision and delivery of health services is devolved in Northern Ireland, and in the absence of an Executive, it remains the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Department of Health to continue to take decisions in the public interest. The UK Government’s priority is the restoration of a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, with locally elected and accountable Executive Ministers taking these important decisions.

The UK Government does, however, recognise the importance of health service reform in Northern Ireland, and has provided £100 million for health service transformation, as recommended in the Bengoa Report.