Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to ensure local Integrated Care Boards are giving adequate resourcing to (a) customer service, (b) complaints and (c) appeals teams.

It is for integrated care boards (ICBs) to determine how to make best use of their resources to deliver their duties and responsibilities and meet the healthcare needs of their local populations.

Specifically on complaints, the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 set out in law the minimum standards National Health Service organisations must adhere to in respect of their complaint handling arrangements.

When ICB responsibilities increased to include primary care commissioning in April 2023, additional complaints handlers were moved into ICB structures, to complement their existing complaints handling resource. As part of the 2026/27 national oversight framework, published on 11 June 2026, new reporting will commence to understand how well ICBs have discharged their duties, as referenced in complaints regulations.