Conclusion 13

NHS Property Services stated that it has a debt recovery plan with a range of actions, including direct payment of rental charges, where commissioners give occupiers the funds to pay their rent to NHS Services. It also acknowledged that the dispute resolution process, where tenants challenge bills, needs to work better than it does now in terms of speed and outcome.23 To date, NHS Property Services has proposed 60 cases for arbitration to the national bodies for approval, of which 19 were approved. The Department told us that arbitration should only be used when all other options have been exhausted.24 16 Qq 7, 10–12, 16, 78–79 17 Qq 51, 57–63, 121–122 18 Qq 1, 19; C&AG’s Report, paras 2.11–2.12 19 Q 1, 14, 135; Written evidence from NHS England and NHS Improvement dated 30 September 2019; C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 20 C&AG’s Report, Figure 12 21 Written evidence from NHS Clinical Commissioners (NPS0005), Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (NPS0004), Sussex Healthcare Partnership (NPS0002) and the British Medical Association (NPS0003) 22 Qq 17–18 23 Qq 10, 17, 56 24 Qq 8–9, 99–102; C&AG’s Report, para 2.15 NHS Property Services 11 2 Future challenges Striking the balance between local incentives and national control