Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total expenditure of NHS England on agency staff was in each of the last three years; and what plans his Department has to reduce the use of agency employees.

Agency spend of National Health Service trusts in England in each of the last three years is shown in the table below and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reports

Agency spend is already going down and fell by nearly £1 billion in 2024/25.

The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets an expectation that trusts should reduce their temporary staffing spend by a minimum of 30% over the financial year and reduce bank spend by 10%. The accompanying Revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2025/26 sets the ambition of eliminating agency spend entirely in the coming years and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance-for-2025-26/

In June, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive of NHS England wrote to trusts and integrated care boards emphasising the message in the guidance to reduce spend. The letter states that if sufficient progress is not made the Government will consider what further action it can take to reduce spend.