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Variation to the Financial Directions to the NHS for 2022-23

My Hon Friend the Minister of State (Minister for Health) (Edward Argar) has made the following Written Statement:

I am varying the 2022-23 Financial Directions to NHS England made on 31 March 2022.

These are primarily technical changes required as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022. The main purpose of the Act is to establish a legislative framework that supports collaboration and partnership-working to integrate services for patients. Among a wide range of other measures, the Act also includes targeted changes to public health, social care and the oversight of quality and safety.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have now been formally brought together into a single legal organisation. Therefore, NHS Improvement’s resource and administration limits, as well as their capital budget, have now been incorporated into NHS England’s budget.

HM Treasury’s Consolidated Budgeting Guidance will now apply to the whole of NHS spend including providers, requiring the addition of funding for Annually Managed Expenditure and ringfenced funding for impairments for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts.

Finally, funding is being provided from NHS England to Health Education England (HEE) for investment in workforce initiatives.

The Act now decouples the Financial Directions from the NHS Mandate and requires the Directions to be laid in Parliament. They will be published on gov.uk. The existing NHS Mandate remains unchanged.