Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England is legally required to ring fence any part of its allocation to Clinical Commissioning Groups to ensure it is used for Better Care Fund schemes which are classified as social care.

NHS England is legally required under the NHS Act 2006 to seek to achieve the objectives set out in the Mandate to NHS England for 2018-19. Progress will be monitored throughout the year, including through the Secretary of State’s quarterly accountability meetings with NHS England. The Secretary of State will also lay in Parliament and publish an annual assessment of NHS England’s performance. This will set out the extent to which NHS England has met mandate objectives.

Under section 223G of the NHS Act 2006, NHS England has the power to set conditions on allocations of funds to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The conditions in relation to the current Better Care Fund (BCF) plans, which cover 2017-19, are set out in the Integration and Better Care Fund Policy Framework for 2017-19¹ and the Integration and Better Care Fund Planning Requirements for 2017-19² and are: plans to be jointly agreed; NHS contribution to adult social care is maintained in line with inflation; Agreement to invest in NHS commissioned out-of-hospital services, which may include seven day services and adult social care; and managing transfers of care. CCGs have been directed by NHS England that these conditions will apply in 2017-19 in relation to the CCG minimum allocation for each body³.

The current, two-year BCF cycle is already in train, with CCG operating plans and BCF spending plans already agreed locally and approved by NHS England. Apart from an opportunity for a minor refresh where needed, to align BCF metrics, we expect areas to move ahead as planned to serve their local populations for the remaining period.⁴

Notes:

¹ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/integration-and-better-care-fund-policy-framework-2017-to-2019

² https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/integration-better-care-fund-planning-requirements.pdf

³D. N. The Better Care Fund Operating Guidance for 2018-19 (working draft to Integrated Working Group on 5/4/2018), para. 62

⁴D. N. Core lines prepared in the run up of the release of NHS Mandate 18-19) (as at 19/3/2018)