Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Jolly on 27 January, when they expect the annual cost of £2.5 billion for National Health Service agency staff appointments to be reduced to £1 billion per annum.

The Department is not imposing a target nor a timescale for reducing the annual cost of National Health Service agency appointments, because to do so in an arbitrary manner might put patients at risk. However, the Government expects NHS organisations, who are responsible for the recruitment and retention of their staff, to have a firm grip on their workforce planning and management including how much they spend on agency staff. NHS organisations have access to a wide range of advice, guidance and best practice available to help them with this. One of the new conditions we have recently introduced for those trusts receiving financial help under section 42 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 is to reduce their use of and the amount they spend on agency staff.