Written question asked by Chris Loder (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 December 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 16 December 2021. It was answered by Gillian Keegan (Conservative) on Monday, 20 December 2021 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Special Educational Needs: Integrated Care Systems

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to SEND children from Integrated Care Systems under the proposed legislative framework of the Health and Care Bill.

Answer: The Health and Care Bill proposes to put integrated care systems on a statutory footing. This represents a significant opportunity to improve the local planning and provision of services to better meet the needs of babies, children, young people and families, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Statutory functions regarding children and young people with SEND would transfer from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to integrated care boards (ICBs) from April 2022. This would include a responsibility for the ICB to agree joint commissioning arrangements for the provision of education, health and social care required by children and young people with SEND. We are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement on bespoke guidance for ICBs to clearly set out the statutory functions that will transfer from CCGs to ICBs on SEND.

Secondary information