Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role mayoral authorities will play in the delivery of Neighbourhood Health Plans.

The wide range of local government responsibilities relevant to health and wellbeing, including social care, public health, and beyond, are central to our vision for Neighbourhood Health. Neighbourhood Health will move care out of hospitals and into communities, with more personalised, proactive, and integrated services starting from where and how people live their lives. This will involve building stronger links to wider local government services such as housing, family hubs, and programmes such as Pride in Place, as well as links with wider civil society including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector.

We are working closely with the Local Government Association to develop a national framework setting out how the National Health Service, local authorities, and partners should work together under the leadership of health and wellbeing boards to develop and implement local neighbourhood health plans.

NHS, local authority, and VCSE services will be co-located in neighbourhood health centres, bringing together a wide range of services to holistically meet the needs of local populations.

Neighbourhood teams and services should be designed to reflect the needs of people in their local areas, with licence to tailor the approach to local needs and with an expectation of crossing organisational boundaries.