Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government on what basis the chief executive of the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board was reportedly allowed to receive redundancy payments and pay in lieu of notice after he announced his retirement in September 2025.

The number of integrated care boards (ICBs) is reducing from 42 to 26 and this has had an impact on senior leadership roles resulting in a number of ICB chief executive officers being subject to compulsory redundancy in August 2025 and receiving contractual redundancy pay. The Chief Executive Officer for the South Yorkshire ICB was within this group and his selection for redundancy pre-dated any communication that his exit was linked to retirement.

The severance payments he received were contractual redundancy in line with national Agenda for Change terms and conditions and contractual pay in lieu of notice.

The Chief Executive Officer for the NHS South Yorkshire ICB role is subject to the Very Senior Manager’s pay framework and is currently covered on an interim basis in line with that framework. Should permanent cover of the role require a review of pay for the new employee, the expectation would be that this is also done in line with the framework, but if an exceptional salary was proposed by the ICB, that would be subject to review and approval by the Department.