Joint Commissioning Arrangements
Dear NHS England,
The Children & Families Act Section 26 Joint Commissioning Arrangements states:
A local authority in England and its partner commissioning bodies must make arrangements (“joint commissioning arrangements”) about the education, health and care provision to be secured for—
(a) children and young people for whom the authority is responsible who have special educational needs, and
(b) children and young people in the authority's area who have a disability.
(3) Joint commissioning arrangements must include arrangements for considering and agreeing—
(a) the education, health and care provision reasonably required by—
(i) the learning difficulties and disabilities which result in the children and young people
within subsection (1)(a) having special educational needs, and
(ii) the disabilities of the children and young people within subsection (1)(b);
(b) what education, health and care provision is to be secured;
(c) by whom education, health and care provision is to be secured;
(d) what advice and information is to be provided about education, health and care provision;
(e)by whom, to whom and how such advice and information is to be provided;
(f) how complaints about education, health and care provision may be made and are to be dealt with;
(g) procedures for ensuring that disputes between the parties to the joint commissioning arrangements are resolved as quickly as possible.
(8)A local authority's “partner commissioning bodies” are—
(a)[F2NHS England], to the extent that it is under a duty under section 3B of the National
Health Service Act 2006 to arrange for the provision of services or facilities for—
(i)any children and young people for whom the authority is responsible who have
special educational needs, or
(ii)any children and young people in the authority's area who have a disability, and
(b)each [F3integrated care board] that is under a duty under section 3 of that Act to arrange for the provision of services or facilities for any children and young people within paragraph (a).
Please provide me with a copy of NHS England's Joint Commissioning arrangements with Reading Borough Council.
Yours faithfully,
Jacqui Prentice
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Dear Jacqui Prentice,
NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. Your request is being dealt with under the
terms of the FOI Act and will be answered within twenty working days. Your
reference number is FOI-2401-2063280.
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number in any future communications.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [4][NHS England request email]
Dear Jacqui Prentice,
Thank you for your email of 23 January 2024 in which you requested
information under the FOI Act from NHS England.
Your request was:
“The Children & Families Act Section 26 Joint Commissioning Arrangements
states:
A local authority in England and its partner commissioning bodies must
make arrangements (“joint commissioning arrangements”) about the
education, health and care provision to be secured for—
(a) children and young people for whom the authority is responsible who
have special educational needs, and
(b) children and young people in the authority's area who have a
disability.
(3) Joint commissioning arrangements must include arrangements for
considering and agreeing—
(a) the education, health and care provision reasonably required by—
(i) the learning difficulties and disabilities which result in the
children and young people within subsection (1)(a) having special
educational needs, and
(ii) the disabilities of the children and young people within subsection
(1)(b);
(b) what education, health and care provision is to be secured;
(c) by whom education, health and care provision is to be secured;
(d) what advice and information is to be provided about education, health
and care provision; (e)by whom, to whom and how such advice and
information is to be provided;
(f) how complaints about education, health and care provision may be made
and are to be dealt with;
(g) procedures for ensuring that disputes between the parties to the joint
commissioning arrangements are resolved as quickly as possible.
(8)A local authority's “partner commissioning bodies” are—
(a)[F2NHS England], to the extent that it is under a duty under section 3B
of the National Health Service Act 2006 to arrange for the provision of
services or facilities for— (i)any children and young people for whom the
authority is responsible who have special educational needs, or (ii)any
children and young people in the authority's area who have a disability,
and (b)each [F3integrated care board] that is under a duty under section 3
of that Act to arrange for the provision of services or facilities for any
children and young people within paragraph (a).
Please provide me with a copy of NHS England's Joint Commissioning
arrangements with Reading Borough Council.”
NHS England may hold information relevant to your request. However, we
are unable to begin processing your request without further
clarification.
Please note that in general, commissioning for Children and Young People
(CYP)’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is place-based.
As such, joint commissioning arrangements are usually between the relevant
Local Authority and Integrated Care Board (ICB) with no involvement from
NHS England.
However, CYP could also be receiving provision from NHS England in section
G of their Education Health and Care Plan for their SEND needs. This is
not jointly commissioned in the same way as with an ICB or Local
Authority, and are agreed on a case-by-case basis as per the [1]National
specifications for all CYP.
Section 1
Under Section 1(3) of the FOI Act, an authority is not obliged to comply
with an FOI request when it reasonably requires further information in
order to identify and locate the information requested.
As such, we would be grateful if you could clarify whether your request
relates to:
• Joint arrangements between the Local Authority and ICB, or
• Nationally provisioned commissioning by NHS England, or
• Something else.
Please be assured we are keen to assist with your enquiry. However, we
cannot guarantee that Section 12 or any other exemptions under the FOI act
will not apply to any further information requested.
Please resubmit your request, addressing the clarification points raised
above, to [2][NHS England request email] quoting your reference number as it
appears in the subject bar.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information
NHS England
Dear FOICRM (NHS ENGLAND - X24),
Many thanks for your response and sorry for slow reply.
To clarify I am interested in the following: Joint arrangements between the Local Authority and ICB.
Yours sincerely,
Jacqui Prentice
Dear Jacqui Prentice,
Thank you for your communication dated 19 February 2024,
NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. As such, your request is being dealt with
under the terms of the FOI Act, and has been allocated the following
reference number: FOI-2402-2073290.
Your exact request was:
“To clarify I am interested in the following:
Joint arrangements between the Local Authority and ICB.”
Your request is a clarified request from the original,
Original request - FOI - 2401-2063280
The Children & Families Act Section 26 Joint Commissioning Arrangements
states:
A local authority in England and its partner commissioning bodies must
make arrangements (“joint commissioning arrangements”) about the
education, health and care provision to be secured for—
(a) children and young people for whom the authority is responsible who
have special educational needs, and
(b) children and young people in the authority's area who have a
disability.
(3) Joint commissioning arrangements must include arrangements for
considering and agreeing—
(a) the education, health and care provision reasonably required by—
(i) the learning difficulties and disabilities which result in the
children and young people within subsection (1)(a) having special
educational needs, and
(ii) the disabilities of the children and young people within subsection
(1)(b);
(b) what education, health and care provision is to be secured;
(c) by whom education, health and care provision is to be secured;
(d) what advice and information is to be provided about education, health
and care provision; (e)by whom, to whom and how such advice and
information is to be provided;
(f) how complaints about education, health and care provision may be made
and are to be dealt with;
(g) procedures for ensuring that disputes between the parties to the joint
commissioning arrangements are resolved as quickly as possible.
(8)A local authority's “partner commissioning bodies” are—
(a)[F2NHS England], to the extent that it is under a duty under section 3B
of the National Health Service Act 2006 to arrange for the provision of
services or facilities for— (i)any children and young people for whom the
authority is responsible who have special educational needs, or (ii)any
children and young people in the authority's area who have a disability,
and (b)each [F3integrated care board] that is under a duty under section 3
of that Act to arrange for the provision of services or facilities for any
children and young people within paragraph (a).
Please provide me with a copy of NHS England's Joint Commissioning
arrangements with Reading Borough Council.
NHS England does not hold information in relation to your request.
It may help if we first explain that NHS England is not the same as ‘the
NHS in England’. The NHS in England is not a single organisation but is
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generally relate to the services NHS England commissions.
For information on commissioned services and the types of information NHS
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For further information on the NHS, its structure and other NHS
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This information may however be held by individual Integrated Care Boards
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You can find ICB contact information on the NHS website [4]available here.
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NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Email: [5][NHS England request email]
Please quote the reference number FOI-2402-2073290 in any future
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Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information
Communications Team
Strategy Directorate
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [8][NHS England request email]
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