Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what specific policy changes they will make to ensure that integrated care boards and healthcare providers are held accountable for systemic failures in providing equitable care for people with learning disabilities.

The Government is committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and has recognised within our new 10-Year Health Plan the unacceptable inequalities and poor life expectancy this group of people faces.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are held accountable for the care of people with a learning disability through existing governance processes, such as the NHS Operating Framework and annual assessment of ICB delivery. ICBs are expected to have an Executive Lead for learning disability and autism to support the board in planning to meet the needs of its local population of people with a learning disability and autistic people and to have effective oversight of, and support improvements in, the quality of care.

Findings from learning from lives and deaths reviews (LeDeR) are a crucial tool for identifying systemic failures in the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people, as well as driving local service improvements. This is why ICBs are expected to have an Executive Lead on LeDeR and NHS England’s national LeDeR policy sets out the clear expectation that ICBs prioritise LeDeR reviews in their delivery plans and ensure that actions are implemented to improve services and reduce premature mortality.

In the recently published Medium-Term Planning Framework, published 24 October 2025, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to reducing the health inequalities faced by people with a learning disability and autistic people, setting up ambitious targets for ICBs and health care providers. This includes reducing admission rates to mental health hospitals for people with a learning disability and autistic people, and optimising existing resources to reduce long waits for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments.