Health and Care Act 2022

29 Financial responsibilities of integrated care boards and their partners

(1) The National Health Service Act 2006 is amended as follows.

(2) For the italic heading before section 223G substitute—

“Integrated care boards”.

(3) After section 223GA insert—

“223GB Power to impose financial requirements on integrated care boards

(1) NHS England may give integrated care boards directions about their management or use of financial or other resources.

(2) The directions that may be given include a direction imposing limits on expenditure or resource use by integrated care boards.

(3) NHS England must publish any directions under this section.

223GC Financial duties of integrated care boards: expenditure limits

(1) An integrated care board must exercise its functions with a view to ensuring that expenditure incurred by the board in a financial year does not exceed the sums received by it in that year.

(2) NHS England may by direction—

(a) specify descriptions of expenditure that are, or are not, to be treated for the purposes of this section as expenditure incurred by an integrated care board, or expenditure incurred by it in a particular financial year;

(b) specify descriptions of sums that are, or are not, to be treated for the purposes of this section as having been received by an integrated care board, or as having been received by it in a particular financial year;

(c) provide for sums received by an integrated care board under section 223G in a year but not spent to be treated for the purposes of this section as expenditure incurred by it in a particular financial year.

(3) For the purposes of this section any sum allotted to an integrated care board for a year under section 223G is to be treated as received by it in that year (subject to any direction under subsection (2)(b)).

223GD Integrated care boards: banking facilities

The Secretary of State may give integrated care boards directions requiring them to use specified banking facilities for any specified purposes.”

(4) Omit sections 223H to 223J (financial duties of clinical commissioning groups).

(5) After section 223K insert—

“Joint duties of an integrated care board and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts

223L Joint financial objectives for integrated care boards etc

(1) NHS England may set joint financial objectives for integrated care boards and their partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts.

(2) An integrated care board and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts must seek to achieve any financial objectives set under this section.

(3) Financial objectives under this section may apply to—

(a) integrated care boards and their partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts generally,

(b) a particular integrated care board and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, or

(c) an integrated care board of a particular description and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts.

223M Financial duties of integrated care boards etc: use of resources

(1) Each integrated care board and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts must exercise their functions with a view to ensuring that, in respect of each financial year—

(a) local capital resource use does not exceed the limit specified in a direction by NHS England;

(b) local revenue resource use does not exceed the limit specified in a direction by NHS England.

(2) In this section “local capital resource use” and “local revenue resource use” means the use of capital resources or (as the case may be) revenue resources by the integrated care board and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, other than use that consists of the transfer of resources between those bodies.

(3) Where an NHS trust or NHS foundation trust is the partner of more than one integrated care board, its use of capital resources or revenue resources is to be apportioned for the purposes of this section to one or more of the integrated care boards in such manner as may be provided for in a direction by NHS England.

(4) NHS England may by direction make provision for determining to which integrated care board, NHS trust or NHS foundation trust a use of capital resources or revenue resources is to be attributed for the purposes of this section.

223N Financial duties of integrated care boards etc: additional controls on resource use

(1) NHS England may direct an integrated care board and its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts to exercise their functions with a view to—

(a) ensuring that local capital resource use in a financial year which is attributable to matters specified in the direction does not exceed an amount so specified;

(b) ensuring that local revenue resource use in a financial year which is attributable to matters specified in the direction does not exceed an amount so specified.

(2) A direction under subsection (1) may—

(a) specify descriptions of resources which must, or must not, be treated as local capital resources or local revenue resources for the purposes of the direction;

(b) specify uses of local capital resources or local revenue resources which must, or must not, be taken into account for the purposes of the direction.

(3) Any directions given under section 223M(3) or (4) apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of section 223M.

(4) In this section “local capital resource use” and “local revenue resource use” have the meaning given by section 223M(2).

Directions about resources etc to be taken into account

223O Resources etc relevant to section 223D, 223E or 223M

The Secretary of State may give directions, in relation to a financial year—

(a) specifying descriptions of resources which must, or must not, be treated as capital resources or revenue resources for the purposes of section 223D, 223E or 223M;

(b) specifying uses of capital resources or revenue resources which must, or must not, be taken into account for the purposes of section 223D, 223E or 223M.”