Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the additional costs incurred by the NHS as a result of the postponement of operations that are not commissioned by Care Commissioning Groups until a certain threshold is reached.

No such estimate has been made. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for working with their local communities to understand the needs of the populations they serve and make decisions about how best to commission services to meet those needs, in partnership with other local commissioners and organisations.

CCGs are also required to carefully consider the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines when making commissioning decisions.