Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long-Term Plan, what the (a) timeframe and (b) terms of reference are for the review of the national tariff.

In its Long Term Plan, the National Health Service outlined eight potential areas for legislation, including one to increase flexibility in the NHS pricing regime.

The NHS is now further developing their proposals, and outlined further thinking on this in an engagement document published on 28 February. This was followed by an engagement exercise with staff, the public and other stakeholders to gain their views on the proposals. We are working with them to explore options.

The Government’s priority is to support the NHS to improve patient outcomes by delivering the Long Term Plan. The NHS is currently considering the responses to its engagement exercise, and the Government will consider legislative proposals where they will support the vision outlined in the Long Term Plan.