Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the use of (a) agency and (b) locum staff on reducing waiting lists.

The Department has not made an assessment and has no plans to make an assessment on the impact of regional variations in staff vacancy rates, the time taken to recruit into nursing roles, or the use of agency and bank staff, on elective waiting list lengths.

NHS England published its planning guidance for 2025/26 in January 2025. This guidance sets out clear priorities for the National Health Service including delivery of the interim electives ambition of meeting nationally 65% of patients being seen within 18 weeks, along with a minimum 5% improvement, that was set out in the Elective Reform Plan.

It is for trusts and integrated care boards to manage staffing of all professions, including through use of agency and bank staff, to deliver on these priorities within their agreed financial allocations.