NHS Wales financial monitoring return guidance: 2025 to 2026 (WHC/2025/013)

Status:

Compliance.

Category:

Finance.

Title:

2025 to 2026 NHS Wales financial monitoring return guidance.

Date of expiry / review:

April 2026.

Action by:

• Chief executives and directors of finance.
• Local health boards / shared health authorities / trusts.
• NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP).
• Joint Commissioning Committee (JCC).

Required by:

Refer to annex 1 within guidance.

Sender:

Hywel Jones,
Director of Finance NHS Wales,
Health, Social Care and Early Years Group.

Welsh Government contacts:

Head of NHS Financial Management,
Finance Directorate,
Health, Social Care and Early Years Group.
Email: nhsfinancialmanagement@gov.wales

Enclosures:

Covering letter and guidance.

Welsh health circulars distribution list:

Board secretaries:

• Swansea Bay.
• Aneurin Bevan.
• Betsi Cadwaladr.
• Cardiff and Vale.
• Cwm Taf Morgannwg.
• Hywel Dda.
• Powys.
• Public Health Wales.
• Velindre Trust.
• Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST).
• Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW).
• Health Edication and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
• NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP).
• Secretary to Board Secretary Group.

Chief executives:

• Swansea Bay.
• Aneurin Bevan.
• Betsi Cadwaladr.
• Cardiff and Vale.
• Cwm Taf Morgannwg.
• Hywel Dda.
• Powys.
• Public Health Wales.
• Velindre Trust.
• WAST.
• DHCW.
• HEIW.
• NWSSP.
• JCC.

Chairs:

• Swansea Bay.
• Aneurin Bevan.
• Betsi Cadwaladr.
• Cardiff and Vale.
• Cwm Taf Morgannwg.
• Hywel Dda.
• Powys.
• Public Health Wales.
• Velindre Trust.
• WAST.
• DHCW.
• HEIW.
• NWSSP.
• JCC.

Directors of finance:

• Swansea Bay.
• Aneurin Bevan.
• Betsi Cadwaladr.
• Cardiff and Vale.
• Cwm Taf Morgannwg.
• Hywel Dda.
• Powys.
• Public Health Wales.
• Velindre Trust.
• WAST.
• DHCW.
• HEIW.
• NWSSP.
• JCC.

Welsh Government:

• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Director General / Chief Executive NHS Wales.
• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Deputy Chief Executive NHS Wales.
• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Deputy Director of Finance.
• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Head of NHS Financial Management.
• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Head of Financial Control and Governance.
• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Operations Team.
• Health, Social Care, and Early Years Comms Team.

Other:

• Technical Manager NHS Sector, Audit Wales.
• National Director Financial Planning and Delivery Unit, NHS Executive.

Dear Colleague

Please find enclosed the 2025 to 2026 NHS Wales monthly financial monitoring return guidance and associated submission templates.

Organisations have been asked to develop robust plans that deliver against the priorities for 2025 to 2026 set out in the NHS Planning Framework from within 2025 to 2026 allocations. A clear expectation has been set that organisations will operate within core allocations.

For some NHS bodies, there were challenges in ensuring that effective monitoring and clear forecasts were in place consistently during 2024 to 2025 and in describing the in-year movements to organisational plans. You are reminded that it is essential that your monthly financial returns include a robust assessment of your forecast outturn position, material risks to delivery, and the opportunities to both mitigate and recover positions and deliver forecasts where required. This needs to be supported by high quality financial information which complies with the attached guidance.

Within that context, this year presents an opportunity to either remove and reduce, as applicable, some of the data requirements that were introduced on a temporary basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the events that impacted energy prices. A new data set is being incorporated into the submissions which enables organisations to better describe the in-year expenditure movements away from the original plan assumptions, at a more granular level. This is intended to increase understanding across the main expenditure groups, of the drivers of unplanned changes, which should improve the robustness of future plans, better inform decision making and the required actions to deliver on forecasts.

I remind you that this information should form a key part of the financial governance of your board, and the timeliness and quality of the information provided should reflect that.

The detailed guidance sets out the changes made this year to the data requirements and completion principles.

Yours sincerely

Hywel Jones
Director of Finance.
Enclosures.