Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England will publish the final terms of reference for NICE's Commissioning Support Programme; and whether these terms will be subject to a public consultation.

NHS England has commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to undertake the Commissioning Support Programme for the development of new or revised clinical commissioning policies for prescribed services, in line with the published ‘Methods’ document, which set out how the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group would make future investment decisions.

There is therefore not a separate Terms of Reference agreed. NHS England receives completed draft proposals from NICE at the point of consideration of their readiness for public consultation, and completes the remaining steps in the process for developing and considering potential new policies for adoption.