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The deadline for decisions on future Integrated Care Board (ICB) footprints has been extended due to the local government reorganisation pause.

In an internal update shared with The MJ's sister publication Healthcare Management, NHS England said the delay to future ICB footprints had been extended to September 2027 for full implementation on 1 April 2028 in order to ‘deliver full alignment between ICBs and strategic authorities'.

Some two-tier local authorities could still be encouraged to stick to their original reorganisation timetable despite the Government pausing the national process in September.

Twelve clustered ICBs were approved to merge into six along with one ICB boundary change in April 2026, with additional mergers due to take place from 1 April 2027.

The boundaries of the current clusters are now expected to remain until April 2028.

NHS England's memo confirmed three changes to existing ICB boundaries will be made on 1 April 2027 to ensure alignment with known or anticipated strategic authority footprints.