Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what statutory basis NHS England has required Integrated Care Boards to reduce their running cost allowances by 50% by Quarter 3 of the 2025-26 financial year.

The National Health Service Act 2006, as amended by The Health and Care Act 2022, grants NHS England powers to establish integrated care boards (ICBs) as statutory bodies for commissioning the majority of health and care services in England. The National Health Service Act 2006 also grants NHS England powers to ensure that expenditure incurred by ICBs does not exceed the aggregated sum allocated to them in a financial year.