Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the legal status of a Sustainability and Transformation Plan will be.

The Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) has no legal basis. Any plans submitted will be proposals that will form the basis for discussion. Depending on the level of local and national agreement, they may form the basis for further plans and actions that will be subject to the same legal and best practice requirements that govern the National Health Service.

The local, statutory architecture for health and care remains, as do the existing accountabilities for Chief Executives of provider organisations and Accountable Officers of clinical commissioning groups. Organisations are still accountable for their individual organisational plans, which should form part of the first year of their footprint’s STP.

The June STP submissions will be work-in-progress, and as such we do not anticipate the requirement for formal approval from boards and/or consultation at this early stage. Plans have no status until they are agreed. When plans are ready, normal rules around engagement and public consultation will apply.