Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 17
5th Report - NHS financial sustainability
Published 29 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee NHS financial sustainability All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We asked about the equity of NHS funding mechanisms and the risk of perverse incentives, using as an example the distribution of money for childhood inoculations. GP surgeries receive a payment for every child that gets a vaccine.29 In our view, this funding mechanism favours wealthier areas where parents are more willing to inoculate their children. At the same time, more deprived areas, known for higher levels of vaccine hesitancy, receive less funding and therefore have fewer resources to carry out much-needed activities to boost uptake, such as outreach and education.30
From: Public Accounts Committee, 5th Report - NHS financial sustainability (HC 350), 29 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifth report from Session 2024-25
Published 16 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with several of the Committee's recommendations, including on earlier planning guidance, productivity and capital-to-revenue switches, is still considering others, and disagrees with the recommendation on paperless providers.
- On planning, the government agrees that guidance should be issued earlier, with a target implementation date of December 2025. NHSE and DHSC are working so guidance is published "ideally before Christmas".
- On the ten-year plan, prevention spending definitions and community funding, the government "is considering" the recommendations and says it will notify the Committee of its response "when it is confirmed".
- The government agrees that NHSE should set out its productivity actions (target: Autumn 2025). It says the plan for productivity improvements from 2026-27 "will be set out following Phase 2 of the Spending Review".
- The government disagrees with the recommendation on paper reduction, saying it "does not agree that providers should be fully paperless" as some patient communications must be sent by letter. It expects trusts and ICBs "to restrict fax machine use".