Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many integrated care boards currently have a lead non-executive director with specialist mental health experiences, as required in guidance published under the Health and Care Act 2022.

The Health and Care Act 2022 requires that one “ordinary” integrated care board (ICB) board member, excluding the Chair or Chief Executive, must have “knowledge and experience in connection with services relating to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness”. All ICBs must comply with this legal requirement, but neither the Department nor NHS England collects this information.

Guidance for ICBs is available on the NHS.UK website in an online only format, and states that “the chair must exercise their approval function of the ordinary members with a view to ensuring that at least one of the ordinary members has knowledge and experience in connection with services relating to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness”. For the ICB to achieve ongoing compliance with this requirement, the constitution should include a board position that can only be filled by candidates who meet these criteria:

• a partner member, jointly nominated by all trusts/foundation trusts, and this must be an additional partner member to the one required as a minimum by the act;
• an ‘other’ board member, that is, not jointly nominated but likewise normally a mental health trust/foundation trust chief executive; and
• an ICB executive director for mental health.