The UK government will give ministers a limited power to set NICE’s cost-effectiveness threshold, after a consultation drew strong warnings over political interference and the agency’s independence. It will also drop the requirement for NICE to consult when a ministerial direction forces related methods changes.
The Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation response follows a five-week exercise opened on 9 December 2025 and closed on 13 January 2026. The government says the change is a matter of public policy because it affects how much of the health budget goes to new treatments, and it wants elected ministers to hold that lever while NICE keeps control of the rest of its methods.
That leaves a sharper line between threshold-setting and technical appraisal work. Under the amended National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Constitution and Functions) and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (Functions) Regulations 2013, ministers will be able to direct NICE on the standard threshold used in technology appraisal and highly specialised technology decisions, but not on the substance of guidance.
The consultation showed broad resistance to the consultation waiver. Seventy-six per cent of respondents disagreed that NICE should not have to consult on procedural changes tied to a ministerial direction, while 57 per cent disagreed with limiting the power to the standard threshold and many cited concern about political pressure.
The government said the threshold change will come through secondary legislation and that the updated rules will take effect on 24 March 2026. It also said the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth will be updated to reflect any threshold changes made under the new power.
The shift is limited in scope, but it gives ministers a more direct hand in the price-test that shapes market access and reimbursement expectations, while leaving NICE to defend its wider evidence-based remit.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care
Link: Changes to NICE regulations: cost-effectiveness threshold
Date: 3 March 2026
