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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Department of Health Accounts inquiry

Status: Closed Opened: 27 Sep 2017 Closed: 27 Sep 2017 1 report
Inquiry scopeThe sustainability of finances in healthcare has concerned the Public Accounts Committee for a number of years. The Department of Health accounts for 2016–17 were published two days before the House of Commons rose for the summer recess, giving limited time for MPs to scrutinise them. In them, the department reports a drop in the number of trusts in deficit from 101 in 2015–16 to 52 in 2016–17, but this is attributable to £1.8 billion of Sustainability and Transformation Funding. It remains to be seen whether the Department can deliver such increases in financial sustainability across trusts in the longer term. Elsewhere the Department continues to move money between different budgets in ways that are not usually encouraged by HM Treasury, with capital budgets being used to support day-to-day expenditure. It is not certain whether an additional £325 million announced by the Chancellor will go towards local services or will again be used to support day-to-day functions of the Department. The Public Accounts Committee will ask senior officials from the Department about measures they are taking to make sure it stays within its approved budget, explore the reasoning for continuing to transfer money from capital to revenue budgets, and examine the Department’s progress in making sure NHS England is more financially sustainable.

Reports

1 report

Oral evidence sessions

1 session

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Date Session and witnesses Source
16 Oct 2017 No witnesses recorded View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters

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PublishedDirectionLetter
8 Nov 2018 — Correspondence from Department of Health and Social Care regarding Annual Accounts-30.10.2018
6 Dec 2017 — Correspondence with Department of Health relating to Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2016–17
21 Nov 2017 — Correspondence with Department of Health
31 Oct 2017 To committee Letter from the Chair to Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health , re. Annual Report and Accounts for 2016–17, dated 31 October 2017