To ask the Minister of Health whether it is envisaged that the abolition of the Health and Social Care Board will speed up the timeframe within which Health and Social Care Trust business cases for capital works are approved.

Only business cases for capital works that are above the appropriate Trusts’ delegated limits need to be approved by my Department.

HSCB involvement in the approval process is to provide a letter of support from the Commissioners. This support letter will continue to be required after the HSCB has closed when the commissioning function will transfer to a unit within my Department. Therefore it is envisaged that there will be no noticeable change to the timeframes for the approval of capital business cases from the HSC Trusts.