Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the timescale for consultation for Dudley's multi-specialty community provider complies with the statutory requirements for public bodies.

The Department expects clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to assure themselves that they have satisfied their legal duties, including the need to consult local populations. CCGs have a duty to consult on their commissioning plans as set out in Section 14Z13 of the NHS Act 2006. The duty does not set any absolute timeframes.

The Dudley CCG undertook a full public consultation last summer to inform the development of the Multi-speciality Community Provider contract. The consultation exercise reached out to several thousand people (including staff) and received over 600 contributions.

A report was commissioned from ICF Consulting Services on the consultation process and considered by the CCG Board in September 2016. A copy of the report is available on the Dudley CCG’s website.