Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to review the NHS funding formula.

NHS England is responsible for determining allocations of financial resources to integrated care boards (ICBs) The process of setting allocations is informed by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), an independent committee that provides advice to NHS England on setting the target formula, which impacts how allocations are distributed over time.

Under the supervision of the ACRA, the funding formulae for ICB commissioned services in the National Health Service are under a rolling programme of review and update. Following the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England commissioned ACRA to review: the findings of the Chief Medical Officer’s recent reports on health across different communities to provide assurance that the factors discussed in the reports have been considered for inclusion in the ICB allocations formulae; and how the setting of ICB allocations can better support the reduction of health inequalities to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.

These reviews are expected to be completed by autumn 2026.