Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with local authority leaders on legislative proposals that would put Integrated Care Systems on a statutory basis.

NHS England has set out its goal that all sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) will become integrated care systems (ICSs) by April 2021. As it stands 18 out of 42 STPs have developed into ICSs. NHS England previously made recommendations in the NHS Long Term Plan for giving ICSs a legal underpinning. These proposals were discussed in an engagement exercise, concluding in April 2019, which engaged more than 190,000 people and consulted stakeholders including the Local Government Association.

The Government is considering how to take forward the proposals put forward by NHS England. If legislative change is required to support the establishment of ICSs, we will work closely with all parts of the health and care system to achieve this, including local authorities, building on work started by NHS England with the publication of the Long Term Plan.