The Government has decided to abolish NHSE and bring many of its functions into a restructured DHSC.

Legislation is required to complete that process. The Health Bill was introduced in Parliament on 14 May 2026 and contains the legislative framework for abolishing NHSE and transferring its functions.

The legislation has not yet completed its Parliamentary passage.

The current working date is 31 March/1 April 2027, subject to the necessary legislation and final implementation decisions.
This remains the date being used by NHSE and DHSC for planning purposes.

No.

The Health Bill provides for NHS England functions to move either to the Secretary of State, operating through the restructured DHSC, or elsewhere in the health system.

For example, NHSE has confirmed that most direct commissioning functions are expected to move to ICBs from April 2027, subject to legislation.

The complete final destination of every NHSE function has not yet been confirmed.

The latest NHS England position is that, unless advised otherwise, the current working assumption is that functions will transfer into DHSC, except where a different destination is agreed. Detailed function and destination mapping is continuing.

No final assurance can presently be given that every NHSE employee will transfer to DHSC.

Whether an employee transfers, and to which organisation, will depend in part upon the destination of the function in which they work and the final organisational arrangements.

Some functions are expected to move elsewhere in the NHS rather than to DHSC.

Not yet on the information currently available.

Important decisions about the destination and organisation of functions remain outstanding.

This matters because the final organisational model will affect which functions move to DHSC, which move elsewhere, the structure of the receiving organisation and the workforce arrangements associated with those changes.

No.

Employees should distinguish between:

Important matters including final organisational structures, some function destinations, grading arrangements, post-filling processes and the precise employment transfer mechanism remain unresolved.

The principal confirmed or established positions are:

Important unresolved matters include:

These matters should not be presented to members as settled until NHS England and DHSC have formally confirmed them.

Members do not need to speculate about matters which have not yet been decided.

They should:

This has not yet been finally determined.

The current position is that the employment transfer will be dealt with through TUPE or COSOP/TUPE-equivalent arrangements, depending upon the legal circumstances of the relevant transfer.

NHS England has previously described the intended approach as TUPE, TUPE-like or COSOP, with the principal employment protections preserved.

The Health Bill also provides for a statutory transfer scheme. The Government’s published explanation states that such a scheme may make provision that is the same as, or similar to, TUPE.

As at 14 August 2026, NHS England has confirmed that the precise mechanism cannot finally be determined until it is clear which functions are transferring and which organisations will receive them.

It would therefore be incorrect at this stage to say that TUPE definitely applies, or that COSOP definitely applies.

TUPE is the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.

Where TUPE applies, employees assigned to the transferring undertaking normally transfer automatically to the new employer. Their employment does not terminate simply because the undertaking changes employer.

TUPE provides substantial protection for continuity of employment, contractual terms and rights connected with the employment relationship.

COSOP is the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector.

It is principally relevant where staff move within the public sector but TUPE may not technically apply.

Its purpose is to provide employment protection broadly comparable to TUPE. The expectation is normally that staff transfer with continuity of employment and their existing terms and conditions protected.

The precise protections applying to this transfer will need to be confirmed when the transfer mechanism is settled.

The stated intention is that continuity of employment will be preserved.

NHSE has told staff that continuity of service and contractual terms are expected to transfer at the point of transfer.

The Government’s explanation of the Health Bill’s transfer-scheme provisions similarly states that a TUPE-like transfer scheme may provide for employees to move with their length of service and employment contract.

The detailed transfer documentation will, however, need to confirm how previous NHS service and other recognised service will be recorded and treated by DHSC.

The current expectation is that contractual terms will be protected at the point of transfer.

That does not, however, mean that every question about the future operation of Agenda for Change within DHSC has been resolved.

There are significant differences between NHSE terms and Civil Service terms. The treatment of those differences is expected to form part of the employment transfer consultation.

NHS England has specifically said that questions about future pay, grading and terms and conditions cannot yet all be answered because they depend upon organisational design and formal consultation.

There is currently no confirmed proposal that all transferring NHSE staff will simply lose their existing contractual terms and move onto standard DHSC terms on transfer.

The stated intention is that contractual terms will be protected at the point of transfer.

What happens subsequently will depend upon the final transfer mechanism, the contractual status of particular terms, any proposed changes, and the consultation and legal processes applicable to those changes.

Transfer and any subsequent harmonisation of terms are separate issues.

The stated position is that contractual terms transfer or are protected at the point of transfer.

However, the longer-term relationship between NHSE pay arrangements and DHSC/Civil Service pay structures has not yet been settled.

Pay and grading differences are among the matters NHSE has identified for formal consultation.

No final mapping has yet been agreed or published that allows every NHSE grade to be translated automatically into a DHSC Civil Service grade.

NHS England and DHSC use different grading and pay structures.

Employees should therefore be cautious about claims that a particular Agenda for Change band will automatically become a particular Civil Service grade unless this has been formally confirmed for the relevant role or cohort.

Contractual entitlements are expected to be protected at transfer.

However, not every NHS England policy is necessarily contractual in its entirety. Some policies contain contractual rights while other provisions may be procedural or discretionary.

NHS England’s own work on policy status recognises that a number of substantive benefits arise from contractual or Agenda for Change provisions. The detailed treatment of individual policies and entitlements will therefore need to be addressed as part of the transfer process.

Employees should not assume either that every NHSE policy automatically transfers unchanged forever or that all existing policy-based entitlements disappear on transfer.

No universal answer can currently be given because different payments have different contractual bases.

The relevant questions will include whether the payment is contractual, incorporated through Agenda for Change, individually agreed, historically protected, or discretionary.

Existing payments and contractual entitlements will need to be identified accurately as part of the transfer process. NHS England’s policy review has identified a number of in-payment and formula-based benefits as contractual or potentially contractual.

Individual circumstances may therefore matter.

Detailed pension arrangements for the transfer have not yet been finally published.

The transfer mechanism will need to address pension protection and continued pension arrangements for affected employees.

Employees should not currently assume either that NHS Pension Scheme membership will automatically end or that every aspect of the existing pension arrangement has already been guaranteed.

Further formal information is required.

Existing arrangements need to be considered individually.

Where a working arrangement amounts to a contractual variation or is required as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, a transfer does not simply extinguish the underlying rights and obligations.

The detailed handling of workplace adjustments, contractual home-working arrangements, flexible working arrangements and work locations will need to form part of the transfer and organisational-change processes.

Continuity of employment is intended to be preserved.

However, there can be distinctions between legal continuity of employment and the way previous service is treated for particular contractual schemes or employer benefits.

The transfer documentation therefore needs to confirm expressly how NHS and other recognised service will be treated for redundancy, annual leave, sick pay and other service-related entitlements.

This remains an area where clear written confirmation is required.

The abolition of NHSE does not in itself extinguish existing employment rights, claims or liabilities.

The final transfer arrangements will need to address the transfer of NHSE’s property, rights and liabilities. The Health Bill expressly provides for transfer schemes covering NHSE’s rights and liabilities.

How a particular ongoing case is administered across the transfer will depend upon the final arrangements and the stage reached in the case.

There is no single answer for all staff at present.

Previous planning information indicated a staged process, with senior roles being considered first and many Band 8d and below staff expected to transfer initially in their existing roles and structures before subsequent post-filling activity.

However, organisational design remains under development and formal consultation has not yet taken place.

The final arrangements for matching, slotting, selection and competition should therefore not be treated as settled.

A substantial restructuring of the combined organisation is expected because the Government has announced an ambition to reduce the combined NHS England and DHSC workforce by approximately 50% by March 2028.

However, the detailed structure, the timing of individual selection processes and which employees will be affected have not all been determined.

It should therefore not be assumed that transfer to DHSC guarantees permanent employment in the same role indefinitely.

Equally, transfer should not itself be described as a redundancy exercise.

No.

Transfer and redundancy are different legal and organisational processes.

An employee may transfer and subsequently be affected by organisational change.

Any future redundancy exercise would have to be dealt with through the applicable legal, contractual and consultation arrangements.

The Government’s stated intention to reduce the combined workforce means that further workforce change is expected, but individual outcomes cannot presently be predicted.

No.

The Government’s stated ambition relates to reducing the combined workforce of NHS England and DHSC by approximately 50% by March 2028.

It does not mean that there is a predetermined requirement to dismiss exactly half of current NHS England employees.

The eventual position will also be affected by voluntary exits, vacancies, natural turnover, functions transferring elsewhere and the design of the new organisation.

The employment arrangements will depend upon the particular function, receiving organisation and transfer mechanism.

For example, the Government has confirmed that some functions will move into the wider NHS system rather than DHSC.

The same fundamental questions will need to be answered: who is the receiving employer, which employees are assigned to the transferring function, what transfer mechanism applies, what terms are protected and what measures are proposed.

Being absent from work does not remove an employee from the process.

NHS England has stated that consultation arrangements will include affected employees who are absent from work, including employees on maternity or family leave.

Employees should receive appropriate information and a fair opportunity to participate in consultation and any relevant selection process.

There is no single confirmed position applying to every secondment.

The outcome will depend upon matters including who employs the individual substantively, the terms and duration of the secondment, where the substantive function is transferring and whether the seconded function itself is moving.

Seconded employees should therefore have their position considered individually as part of workforce and transfer mapping.

Yes, consultation is expected.

NHSE has previously indicated that there will be formal consultation dealing with organisational design and the employment transfer arrangements, including differences between NHS England and DHSC employment arrangements.

Earlier planning indicated that consultation was expected to begin around October 2026. However, the Target Operating Model and important decisions about the destination of functions remain outstanding, and no firm final consultation date should presently be treated as guaranteed.

Recognised trade unions are expected to be involved in that process.

This has not yet been finally determined for all staff.

NHS England has specifically identified office location and future working arrangements as matters which cannot yet be answered definitively because they depend upon organisational design and consultation.

Any individual contractual location provision or reasonable adjustment will need to be considered separately.

The complete policy position has not yet been agreed.

There is an important distinction between contractual rights and the policies used by an employer to administer employment.

Some NHS England policies contain contractual entitlements; others contain non-contractual procedures or management guidance.

DHSC also operates within the wider Civil Service and Government People Group framework.

The treatment of NHSE policies therefore requires a policy-by-policy assessment rather than an assumption that either all NHSE  policies continue indefinitely or all are replaced immediately on transfer.

Employees transferring into DHSC are expected to move into a Civil Service department.

The detailed employment status and consequences of that move will form part of the final transfer arrangements.

This is one reason why issues such as Civil Service nationality requirements, grading structures and employment policies require specific consideration.

Potentially, yes.

Civil Service Nationality Rules apply to Civil Service employment and can therefore affect NHSE employees whose functions are expected to transfer into DHSC.

Eligibility depends upon individual nationality and immigration circumstances and, in some cases, whether a particular role is designated as a reserved post.

It is not correct to assume that every employee who is not a British citizen is unable to transfer.

Individual circumstances must be considered.

This remains an important unresolved area for affected employees.

NHS England has been reviewing the affected workforce and engaging with employees about nationality and immigration status.

Questions remain about future DHSC sponsorship arrangements and the interaction between sponsorship, Civil Service nationality requirements and the destination of individual functions.

Employees affected by these issues should receive individual advice rather than relying upon general assumptions about nationality or visa status.

Not necessarily.

Some Civil Service roles may be designated as reserved posts and have more restrictive nationality requirements.

The final number and nature of reserved roles relevant to the new DHSC structure have not yet been confirmed.