Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced his plans to scrap NHS England, which is a body that operates separate from the government. Set up in 2013 to increase the health service’s autonomy, NHS England functions as a quango (a quasi-NGO) which is funded by taxpayers but not controlled directly by central government.

The prime minister’s decision was announced at a speech in Hull today (13th March 2025).

On the NHS England body, the prime minister said: “So today I’m going to reverse it because I don’t see why decisions about £200 billion of taxpayer money on something as fundamental to our security as the NHS should be taken by an arms-length, NHS England.

“And I can’t in all honesty explain to the British people why they should spend their new money on two layers of bureaucracy.

“That money could and should be spent on nurses, doctors, GP appointments. So today I can announce we’re going to cut bureaucracy across the state… I’m bringing management of the NHS back under democratic control by abolishing the arms-length body NHS England. That will put the NHS at the heart of the government where it belongs.”