Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
64th Report - Costs of clinical negligence
Published 30 Jan 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Costs of clinical negligence All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
On multiple occasions the Department told us that it was unable to comment on many aspects of current policy as a recent review into clinical negligence by David Lock KC was still being considered by ministers.9 5 C&AG’s Report, paras 6, 7, 1.18 6 C&AG’s Report, para 14 7 Q 35 8 C&AG’s Report, para 8 9 Qq 35, 47, 63, 97, 100 10 As a result it would also not comment on whether it thought the current steps being taken to reduce clinical negligence costs would make a difference.10 The Department repeatedly assured us that the review would cover all aspects of clinical negligence, including when we asked about policies on legal costs, international comparisons, options for alternative dispute resolution, the assumptions around provision of private health and social care and the overall causes of rising costs.11 Underlying causes of harm to patients
From: Public Accounts Committee, 64th Report - Costs of clinical negligence (HC 1234), 30 January 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 April 2026 (deadline 30 March 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee's recommendation to set out an operational plan on clinical negligence, disagrees with others, and has some recommendations "under consideration".
- It agrees to write to the Committee "by this Autumn" with its workplan, key milestones and likely areas of focus for reform, but "disagrees" with publishing David Lock KC's review, saying it has "no current plans" to publish a separate report.
- It "disagrees" with estimating and tracking the costs of treating avoidable harm, stating it "would not be financially or logistically feasible", and "disagrees" with a new national data-sharing system, saying "there is already data sharing arrangements in place".
- On maternity, it agrees with the recommendation to learn lessons. Baroness Amos has confirmed the independent investigation will publish its final report in June 2026, and a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will develop a national action plan.
- Alternative dispute mechanisms and fixed recoverable costs are "under consideration", and the government is "unable to commit" to the six-month timeframe for double recovery estimates. It will write to the Committee by Autumn 2026 on each.