Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has provided guidance to integrated care boards on sequencing cost reduction to avoid operational disruption.

NHS England provided guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs), National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts in a letter on 1 April 2025, where ICBs were tasked with developing plans setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities. This letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/

NHS England has also circulated a draft of The Model ICB - blueprint document to all ICBs to assist them in shaping their future plans, including which functions they should focus on.

These ICB reforms are not about reductions to front line services. We are clarifying the role of ICBs to focus on strategic commissioning and reduce duplication. ICBs have submitted their plans to deliver these changes, and NHS England is currently reviewing these plans, including implementation.