Plans to exclude councils from Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have been scrapped by the Government.
The U-turn was revealed in an amendment to the Health Bill tabled by health and social care secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday.
Cooper's amendment restored the requirement for ICBs to contain at least one member nominated jointly by the local authorities as well as any new mayoral nominated member.
Former health and social care secretary James Murray had been urged to rethink the plans to remove the statutory right for local government representation on ICBs during a grilling by the Health and Social Care Committee earlier this year.
A Health and Social Care Committee spokesperson said: ‘After multiple encounters with this committee, the Government has seen sense and reinstated local authorities' essential role in scrutinising the spending and decisions of ICBs. Councils know the care and health needs of the communities they represent. Losing their oversight would have only made health services more siloed from social care and estranged from the patient's voice.'
Chair of the Local Government Association's health and wellbeing committee Cllr Wendy Taylor said: ‘Local authorities know and understand their communities. Giving a meaningful voice to councils through ICBs will support effective neighbourhood working, ensure decisions reflect local realities, and that services are strengthened and shaped around communities and the way local people live their lives, rather than around organisational boundaries.'
