NHS England’s board has today agreed its clinical commissioning group planning guidance and allocations. Final documents will be published on the NHS England website by Friday 20 December and copies will be placed in the Library.

As we set out in the mandate to NHS England, the NHS needs to change to meet the needs of an ageing population. This guidance will help commissioners develop plans for services that more closely address the needs of local populations and deliver better integration of health and social care services.

The planning guidance sets out the priorities for commissioners. Commissioners are asked to plan for the next two years, with a specific emphasis on improving health, reducing health inequalities and moving towards a parity of esteem for mental and physical health.

In order that such an important decision is considered objectively, free from party political considerations, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 made how health funding is allocated between different areas of the country a responsibility of NHS England.

The NHS England board has today made decisions on how to distribute its budget so patients benefit. This includes allocating funding for individual clinical commissioning groups.

The Government have protected the overall health budget and NHS England has today decided that every CCG in England will continue to benefit from at least stable real-terms funding for the next two years. Those areas with fastest growing populations will benefit from more rapid growth in funding.

By reflecting changes in population around the country and better targeting where the pockets of deprivation are located, the NHS can offer the best services where patients need them most.