Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecast he has made of the likely spend on agency nurses by (a) NHS England and (b) London North West Healthcare NHS Trust in each year up to and including 2019-20.

NHS England is a commissioning organisation and does not hold budgets for agency nursing staff. Spending on agency nursing staff is incurred by specific provider organisations.

This financial year, 2015/16, London North West Healthcare NHS Trust is targeting a minimum 20% reduction in agency spend. This would reduce spend by at least £5 million compared to the previous year. The Trust anticipates making further savings in subsequent years.