Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the integration of funding from the NHS, local government and other strategic partners through Integrated Care Systems.

The Health and Care Bill will aim to promote local collaboration through the establishment of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), which will have at least one member nominated by their partner local authorities, and Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs).

Section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 already allows for joint working and pooling of budgets between National Health Service (NHS) organisations and local authorities, for prescribed functions and prescribed health-related functions respectively. ICPs, which the Health and Care Bill proposes to require ICBs and their partner local authorities to establish, will be required to consider whether the needs of the area could be more effectively met using these arrangements when producing their strategy.

The proposed joint working provisions in the Bill will also make it easier for ICBs to arrange for functions to be exercised by or jointly with other ICBs, certain NHS bodies and local authorities, including powers to form joint committees and pool budgets.