Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the sign-off process is for sustainability and transformation plans.

The Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) are being developed by local areas. National Health Service providers, commissioners, local authorities, and other health and care services are coming together to propose how they, at local level, can close the health and wellbeing, care and quality and financial gaps. These plans are locally owned, but will be shared with the national health and care bodies, chiefly NHS England and NHS Improvement, so the national bodies can best develop support to enable footprints to deliver their plans. The National bodies have also published guidance on the STP process.

NHS England and NHS Improvement will continue to work closely with STP areas to provide them with support and expertise to develop robust plans which will meet the objectives set out in the Mandate. STPs will form the basis for operational planning for 2017/18 and 2018/19, which will be subject to NHS Improvement and NHS England assurance processes.

The local organisations will also be leading public engagement processes on their STP plans, in line with the engagement guidance.