Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken by (a) NHS Improvement and (b) Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure that services specified within the Liverpool core bundle can be delivered safely within the planned recurrent funding envelope.

NHS Improvement, working alongside the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (LCCG), has recently begun a new process to select a preferred provider for Liverpool Community Services National Health Service Trust. The recurrent funding envelope for delivery of these services is currently being determined by LCCG. The criteria that will be used to assess the proposals cover the four key domains of financial sustainability, deliverability, clinical quality (which includes safety) and strategic context.

NHS Improvement have informed us that they, working with the LCCG, have set a target Care Quality Commission rating of Good for services within the first year, and Good or Outstanding for the second year.

NHS Improvement and the LCCG have invited proposals from four providers within the Liverpool “Acting As One” arrangements. These providers have been approached as they are considered to have a reasonable prospect of making a viable business case. The organisations are: Aintree NHS Foundation Trust, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen NHS Trust.