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 role of integrated care systems in implementing the Building the Right Support Action Plan.

No specific assessment has been made. Reducing reliance on mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people remains a key commitment for the National Health Service, re-affirmed in 2023/24 NHS planning guidance for local systems.

Each integrated care board (ICB) produces a five year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.

In May 2023, NHS England published statutory guidance on Executive Lead roles within ICBs including the requirement to have a lead for learning disability and autism. The guidance states that the role of the ICB executive lead for learning disability and autism is to support the Chief Executive and the Board so that the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of people with a learning disability and autistic people in the local area.

As committed to in the Building the Right Support Action Plan, NHS England has published refreshed guidance on Dynamic Support Registers and Care (Education) Treatment Reviews which sets out expectations for ICBs on which people with a learning disability and autistic people should be added to the local dynamic support register, and about what actions should follow as a result of a person being on a register.