Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what process her Department has put in place for integrated care systems to take responsibility for specialised commissioning services; what role NHS England will have for specialised commissioning in the future; and what the (a) process and (b) timeline will be for the transition.

NHS England are currently determining which specialised services could benefit from being delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs). By April 2023, we expect that some ICBs will have responsibility for delegated commissioning for some specialised services, subject to system and service readiness. NHS England will retain overall accountability for specialised services which are delegated to ICBs to ensure that all standards are maintained.

The decision to move some services under direct management of ICBs will be taken where it is advantageous for these services to be overseen locally. This will allow ICBs to work with service providers to deliver care to meets the needs of the community.