Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS Trust community engagement following the removal of the statutory requirement for Councils of Governors in the Ten Year Health Plan.

Until such time as the Health Bill receives Royal Assent, the statutory requirements for councils of governors (CoGs) remain. All National Health Service foundation trusts (FTs) will be expected to have put in place effective arrangements for community engagement by the time the bill provisions to remove CoGs have commenced.

To ensure the effectiveness of these arrangements, they will be tested as part of ongoing assurance processes, including provider capability assessments, Care Quality Commission well-led assessments, and the assessment process for advanced foundation trust status.

If arrangements are found to be ineffective, there are a range of escalation approaches available. The appropriate intervention would depend on the circumstances and whether there were wider failures at the FT, but it could involve finding the trust in breach of the conditions of its provider licence and requiring the FT to develop and deliver a plan to address the issue.

The Department has published impact assessments for the Health Bill, which include an assessment of reform to the foundation trust model. This is available at the following link:

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-02/0009/ia_Structural_measures_to_ICBs.pdf