Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to funding for integrated care boards on local healthcare (a) planning and (b) service delivery.

As part of the necessary changes to support the National Health Service to recover, NHS England has indicated that integrated care boards (ICBs) should reduce in size. The Government is supportive of NHS England’s decision and will work with NHS England to make the necessary choices that are needed to get the NHS back on its feet. We expect ICBs to continue to deliver their responsibilities including the planning and delivery of health and care services.

Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to ensure that the expected hundreds of millions of pounds savings made will be reinvested in frontline services to deliver better care for patients.

Further detail on the future of ICBs was provided in a letter issued to all ICBs and NHS trusts and foundation trusts on 1 April 2025. This letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/