Planning guidance delayed to 2025

The health and social care secretary told the Commons health and social care committee today he was “committed” to the mental health investment standard – which requires integrated care boards to increase mental health services spending by at least as much as their total allocations.

This ensures the share of total NHS spending going on mental health does not fall.

In recent weeks, senior sources have made clear there was a possibility the MHIS rule would be axed in 2025-26, as government and officials look to free up spending for other priorities and to curb local deficits. Lobby groups and politicians have argued for it to be kept.

Mr Streeting said introduction of the MHIS “is one of the better decisions that my predecessors made”, and paid tribute to Lord Simon Stevens, who pushed for and introduced it as NHS England CEO. 

Mr Streeting told the committee: “I am committed to the mental health investment standard. I think it is really important.”

He said various lobby groups have been “going hell for leather” in recent weeks to “fight their corner for things they particularly care about”, and claimed “people [had] slightly jump[ed] the gun and gone into battle mode straight away”.

Planning guidance delayed

He also confirmed NHS 2025-26 planning guidance would not be published until “the new year”.

Until recent days, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSE were seeking to publish it before Christmas, as had been the tradition until last year. For 2024-25, the guidance was not published until March 2024. Mr Streeting indicated government’s Mandate to the NHS for 2025-26 may be published sooner, however.

Keeping the MHIS will limit decision makers’ wriggle room to deliver on other priorities and objectives, within what is expected to be very tight overall growth.

As well as keeping MHIS, Mr Streeting told the committee he would increase spending on primary and community care in 2025-26. He said when allocations and planning rules arrive “people will see I will be walking the walk in terms of the shift from hospital to community”. 

HSJ understands ministers, DHSC officials and NHSE have not yet been able to agree headline targets and priorities, such as urgent and emergency care targets for 2025-26.