Request for NHS trust data following new govt financial controls for the NHS
Case reference FOI2026/00322
Received 11 February 2026
Published 16 March 2026
Last amended 16 March 2026
Request
Dear Sir/Madam, Freedom of Information Act Request: Impact of NHS financial requirements SECTION ONE: financial breakeven requirements From 2025-26, NHS England’s financial framework requires NHS trusts to meet a statutory breakeven duty. Where possible, trusts must avoid in-year deficits and recover prior deficits.
Request (section one):
1. Please provide the trust’s in-year deficit or surplus for 2024–25, and its estimated in-year deficit or surplus for 2025–26, 2026–27 and 2027–28. (Where the trust plans to break even, please confirm this. Where a deficit or surplus is projected, please state the estimated value.) SECTION TWO: efficiency, productivity and cost-reduction requirements NHS England has set mandatory efficiency measures, including: reducing organisational cost base by at least 1%; delivering around 4% productivity improvement; reducing corporate service spending to pre-pandemic levels; and reducing reliance on temporary and agency staffing.
Request (section two):
2a. Workforce reductions and permanently deleted posts Please provide the total number of job cuts, redundancies or post reductions that the trust has identified, planned or already implemented as a result of its breakeven duty and associated financial planning. If possible, please provide this information by financial year: 2025–26, 2026–27 and 2027–28. This should include job cuts or redundancies, and posts that have already been permanently deleted whether or not this resulted in redundancy. Where possible, and within statutory cost limits, please break this information down by staff group, for example: clinical staff, non-clinical staff, corporate / administrative staff Please express figures in full-time equivalent (FTE). Where only headcount figures are held, please provide these instead and indicate this.
2b. Method of workforce reduction and post deletion Where possible, please provide a breakdown of how the workforce reductions and permanent post deletions described in section 2a are being or will be achieved, for example through: compulsory redundancies, voluntary redundancies, non-renewal of fixed-term contracts, natural wastage, vacancy controls or recruitment freezes. Where data is held, please break this information down by staff group (clinical/non-clinical/corporate, or equivalent categories used by the trust) and by financial year (2025–26, 2026–27, 2027–28).
SECTION THREE: planned service reductions Breakeven planning may involve changes to service delivery, including reductions, reconfiguration or cessation of services. Request (section three): 3. Please outline any services, departments or functions that the trust has identified for reduction, reconfiguration or closure as part of its breakeven duty and medium-term financial plan, and indicate in which financial year(s) these changes are planned (2025–26, 2026–27 and/or 2027–28).
Response
SECTION ONE: financial breakeven requirements
From 2025-26, NHS England’s financial framework requires NHS trusts to meet a statutory breakeven duty. Where possible, trusts must avoid in-year deficits and recover prior deficits.
Request (section one):
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Please provide the trust’s in-year deficit or surplus for 2024–25, and it's estimated in-year deficit or surplus for 2025–26, 2026–27 and 2027–28. (Where the trust plans to break even, please confirm this. Where a deficit or surplus is projected, please state the estimated value.)
We can confirm that the Trust holds this information.
2024/25: This information is publicly available in our Annual Report & Accounts, published on the OUH website.
2025/26: £2m surplus plan
2026/27: Breakeven plan
2027/28: Breakeven plan
SECTION TWO: efficiency, productivity and cost-reduction requirements
NHS England has set mandatory efficiency measures, including: reducing organisational cost base by at least 1%; delivering around 4% productivity improvement; reducing corporate service spending to pre-pandemic levels; and reducing reliance on temporary and agency staffing.
Request (section two):
2a. Workforce reductions and permanently deleted posts
Please provide the total number of job cuts, redundancies or post reductions that the trust has identified, planned or already implemented as a result of its breakeven duty and associated financial planning. If possible, please provide this information by financial year: 2025–26, 2026–27 and 2027–28. This should include job cuts or redundancies, and posts that have already been permanently deleted whether or not this resulted in redundancy.
Where possible, and within statutory cost limits, please break this information down by staff group, for example: clinical staff, non-clinical staff, corporate / administrative staff
Please express figures in full-time equivalent (FTE). Where only headcount figures are held, please provide these instead and indicate this.
2b. Method of workforce reduction and post deletion
Where possible, please provide a breakdown of how the workforce reductions and permanent post deletions described in section 2a are being or will be achieved, for example through: compulsory redundancies, voluntary redundancies, non-renewal of fixed-term contracts, natural wastage, vacancy controls or recruitment freezes.
Where data is held, please break this information down by staff group (clinical/non-clinical/corporate, or equivalent categories used by the trust) and by financial year (2025–26, 2026–27, 2027–28).
SECTION THREE: planned service reductions
Breakeven planning may involve changes to service delivery, including reductions, reconfiguration or cessation of services.
Request (section three):
-
Please outline any services, departments or functions that the trust has identified for reduction, reconfiguration or closure as part of its breakeven duty and medium-term financial plan, and indicate in which financial year(s) these changes are planned (2025–26, 2026–27 and/or 2027–28).
We can confirm that the Trust holds the information requested in Sections 2 and 3.
However, the Trust considers this information to be exempt under Section 36(2)(b)(i) and Section 36(2)(b)(ii) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Nature of the prejudice
Requested information relates to draft operational and financial planning proposals currently in development. Disclosure of this information at this stage would be likely to prejudice the effective conduct of the Trust’s public affairs through:
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Creating misunderstanding regarding the status of these proposals, potentially causing unnecessary concern among patients, staff and stakeholders;
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Inhibiting the Trust’s ability to conduct frank internal discussions and considering a full range of options whilst developing its medium-term plans;
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Misrepresenting Trust intentions as final before any conclusive decisions have been reached.
Likelihood of prejudice
Section 36 applies where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. The Trust’s Qualified Person, the Interim Chief Executive Officer, has considered this information and formed the reasonable opinion that disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free and frank exchange of opinions.
Applicable interests
The applicable interests relevant to this exemption relate to the Trust employees’ and management’s ability to conduct open and honest internal discussions regarding financial, operational and workforce planning. There is also an interest in maintaining public confidence in decision-making processes and ensuring that incomplete or draft proposals are not misunderstood.
Public Interest Test
The Trust’s Qualified Person has considered the public interest test when relying on the qualified section 36 exemption. Factors in favour of disclosure include:
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Promoting openness and transparency in relation to the Trust’s financial planning and the use of public funds.
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Supporting public understanding of the financial challenges faced by NHS organisations.
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Enabling public scrutiny of potential changes to services and operational arrangements.
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Providing the public with sufficient notice of changes to any existing services, so alternative arrangements can be made.
However, we have taken the following factors into consideration in favour of maintaining the exemption:
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The information available at this stage consists of high level, draft options and preliminary estimates which are incomplete and subject to change.
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Disclosure at this stage would create a risk that the public could draw conclusions from this information which does not represent the Trust’s final position.
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The Trust should have the opportunity to thoroughly develop and consider strategic and financial planning options internally before proposals are finalised.
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Premature release of early-stage options could undermine effective engagement with staff, patients and stakeholders.
The Trust is committed to transparency regarding its planning activities. Once proposals have been finalised and approved through the Trust’s governance processes, relevant information will be published through Board papers and other public documents. Where required by law or regulation, they will also be subject to public consultation in advance of implementation.
Having considered the public interest, the Trust’s decision is therefore to withhold the information at this time.
Documents
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