Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to encourage the integration of health care services provided by the NHS and social care services provided by local authorities; and what assessment they have made of the decision by Lancashire County Council to award the contract for their Health Child Programme 0 to 19 to a private sector provider.

The Government is committed to better integrating the health and care services provided to the public in England. This starts with enabling better integrated commissioning of services. No assessment has been made of the decision by Lancashire County Council as it is the responsibility of local authorities to commission the services that meet the needs of their local population.