Oral Question·Department of Health and Social Care
“What steps his Department is taking to tackle wasteful spending in the health service.”
Tabled: 15 October 2025Answered: 21 October 2025
Asked by
Richard Burgon
Labour — Leeds East
Answering Minister
the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Answer from Hansard
The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)
As well as the record investment that we put into the NHS, we are ensuring that we get a better bang for the taxpayer’s buck. Under the Conservatives, for example, the NHS was paying £3 billion to recruitment firms for agency shifts. We have cut agency spending by a third and are abolishing it altogether, with the savings reinvested in staff pay and treatment for patients. That is just one example of how our reform agenda is good for patients and for taxpayers.