Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance to Clinical Commissioning Group's on best practice for reduce financial deficits.

As with all public services, local National Health Service areas are obliged to live within their agreed budget – otherwise they effectively take up resources that could be spent on general practitoners, mental health care, and cancer treatment. However, it is for local leaders in sustainability and transformation partnership areas, working together with NHS England and NHS Improvement, to deliver against their own plans to achieve financial balance.

NHS England has set up a team to focus on financial resilience in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that provides good practice guidance, support, and intervention assistance along with Regional and DCO (Directors of Commissioning Operations) staff. NHS England does not provide mandated guidance, but instead promotes good practice based on experiences in other CCGs and nationally-focussed QIPP (Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention) work, which is designed to identify efficiencies and savings that can assist CCGs to recover their financial position. In addition, NHS England has established an internal SharePoint site, which provides CCGs with guidance on a range of issues, including how to avoid financial difficulties. It also contains NHS England’s position statement on intervention and escalation should CCGs experience financial difficulties, clearly defining roles and responsibilities.