Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on funding for integrated care boards.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department, to ensure that the expected savings will be reinvested in frontline services to deliver better care for patients.

As part of the necessary changes to support the National Health Service to recover, NHS England has also indicated that integrated care boards (ICBs) should reduce in size. We will work with the NHS to make the necessary choices that are needed to get the NHS back on its feet.

In a letter from Sir Jim Mackey to all ICBs and NHS trusts and foundation trusts on 1 April 2025, NHS England published further detail on the future of the ICBs. 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/