Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the finding in the King's Fund report, entitled Deficits in the NHS 2016, published on 11 July 2016, that NHS providers and commissioners ended 2015-16 with a deficit of £1.85 billion, what steps he is taking to reduce that aggregate deficit.

It is clear that the National Health Service faces a significant challenge, and this is why we are investing the additional £10 billion the NHS has said it needs to implement its own plan for the future, with £6 billion frontloaded by the end of this year.

We have introduced tough new financial controls to cut down on waste in the NHS - including introducing caps for agency staff and management consultants, and introducing central procurement rules. In 2016-17, we have introduced a £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund to support providers to move to a financially sustainable footing. We will be providing intensive support to the most challenged NHS organisations through the new special measures programme.