Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to mandate the NHS, integrated care systems and local authorities to (a) commission collaboratively and (b) adhere to nationally-recognised quality standards on sexual and reproductive health.

The Department is currently developing a Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy, which is planned for publication later this year. The Strategy will consider issues related to collaborative commissioning and national sexual and reproductive health standards across the National Health Service and local authorities. The Health and Care Bill will facilitate collaborative commissioning by establishing statutory integrated care boards and requiring the creation of integrated care partnerships. The proposed legislation also seeks to remove barriers to collaborative commissioning by permitting a wider set of arrangements for joint commissioning, pooling of budgets and delegation of functions.