Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to place the governance arrangements for sustainability and transformation plans on a statutory footing.

The Department currently has no plans to place Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) on a statutory footing.

STPs represent a coming together of commissioners, providers and local authorities to consider how to best plan care across their entire footprint and deliver the three aims set out in the Five Year Forward View. However, the statutory architecture for health and care remains fully in place, as do the existing accountabilities for Chief Executives and Accountable Officers of providers and clinical commissioning groups.