The Department told us that while there had been a slight pause in recruitment, the programme was not currently under a recruitment freeze for key roles and it did not currently see resourcing as a concern.55 We challenged the Department on this, highlighting that the impact of public sector vacancies on deliverability was rated red on the programme’s risk register as at November 2025. The Department said that the programme had subsequently been on a recruitment drive, specifically looking at...

The Department told us that while there had been a slight pause in recruitment, the programme was not currently under a recruitment freeze for key roles and it did not currently see resourcing as a concern.55 We challenged the Department on this, highlighting that the impact of public sector vacancies on deliverability was rated red on the programme’s risk register as at November 2025. The Department said that the programme had subsequently been on a recruitment drive, specifically looking at moving staff from across NHS England into core roles.56 The vacancy rate for the programme had now reduced below the 39% reported by the NAO, and the De Type: conclusion | Number: 25 | Response status: response_pending