Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of delegation of specialised commissioning responsibility from NHS England to Integrated Care Systems on multiple sclerosis care.

NHS England retains overall accountability for specialised services which are delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England is currently reviewing which specialised services could be delegated and move to direct management by ICBs, if it is advantageous for these services to be overseen locally. This approach will allow ICBs to work with service providers to deliver the care to meets the needs of the community.

By April 2023 we expect that some Integrated Care Boards will have taken on delegated commissioning responsibility for a portion of specialised services. This will be subject to local system and service readiness.