Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that no entity will be granted a licence under NHS Improvement's new guidance on the oversight of NHS-controlled providers until after the conclusion of the national consultation on accountable care organisations.

No accountable care organisations (ACOs) currently exist and they will not exist until NHS England has completed a full consultation. No commissioner will be able to use the draft ACO Contract unless NHS England makes it available following the end of a proposed consultation exercise. NHS England would only consider making the contract available after carefully considering consultees’ responses to the consultation.

Guidance on whether an organisation is required to hold an National Health Service provider licence – known as the licence exemptions regulations – is published by the Department. A provider which holds the ACO contract will be subject to the same NHS Improvement provider license requirements as any other provider of NHS services.

The licence exemptions regulations have not been affected by NHS Improvement’s guidance on NHS-controlled providers, which instead outlines changes to the oversight to which a small number of providers that are already required to hold a licence are subject.