Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Children and Young People's Transformation Programme in the NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, if he will publish the timeframe for the implementation of the essential paediatric Workforce implementation plan; and take steps to ensure that the workforce implementation plan will be funded from the public health budget.

The National Health Service budget will increase by £33.9 billion in cash terms, the equivalent of £20.5 billion in real terms by 2023/24, reflecting the fact that the NHS is the Government’s top spending priority.

The NHS Long Term Plan prioritises services for children and young people. It provides a clear focus on improving the health of children and young people across mental health, learning disabilities, cancer and elsewhere. It is critical in prioritising services for children and young people in future, and it will continue to influence the wider issues that impact on children’s health. Creation of a Transformation Programme for Children and Young People will provide an improved strategic and coordinated response to meet the diverse needs of children and young people.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked Baroness Harding to take forward the development of a People Plan, as part of the overall implementation plan for the Long Term Plan, in order to ensure the challenges of supply, reform, culture and leadership can be met. This will sit alongside the broader Implementation Plan that will be developed at all levels to make the Long Term Plan a reality. An interim People Plan will be published this spring and a full plan will be published within two months of the conclusion of the Spending Review.