Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the planned (a) budgetary reductions and (b) structural reorganisation in NHS Devon on (i) waiting times for surgery and (ii) emergency care.

No formal assessment has been made on the potential impact of the planned budgetary reductions and structural reorganisation in NHS Devon on waiting times for surgery and emergency care.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board (ICB) running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.

We have recently announced the Spending Review settlement which provides an additional £29 billion of annual day-to-day spending in real terms by 2028/29, compared to 2023/24. Ahead of asking the National Health Service to commence a multi-year planning round, we are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out that ICBs must focus on their role as strategic commissioners, ensuring the best possible value in securing local services that improve population health and reduce inequalities.

Each ICB is therefore responsible for considering local needs to meet the expectations set out in planning guidance.

As of August 2025, 62.1% of pathways in NHS Devon ICB were completed within 18 weeks. This has improved by 3.4 percentage points since August 2024.