26

NHSE abolition announced alongside significant cost-cutting demands on Integrated Care Boards

Conclusion
On 13 March 2025, the Government announced that NHSE would be abolished within two years and that the Department would put in place arrangements to deliver the responsibilities currently delivered by NHSE.57 On the same day, as part of our evidence session on the 2023–24 Annual Report and Accounts of the Department for Health and Social Care, we asked the Department and NHSE about reports that Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) had been ordered to cut costs by 50%.58
Government Response

A response document is linked to this report, dated 19 January 2026. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.

Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age 0.8 yr
Report published 19 Nov 2025