Six new ICBs have been confirmed by NHS England, abolishing 12 existing ICBs as of 1 April 2026.
Alongside these mergers, Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB has had a boundary change confirmed by the Government, to incorporate the Hampshire wards of Frimley ICB.
The new ICB footprints will be:
- NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB – abolishing Norfolk and Waveney ICB and Suffolk and North East Essex ICB
- NHS Essex ICB – abolishing Mid and South Essex ICB, incorporating West Essex and North East Essex
- NHS Central East ICB – abolishing Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB
- NHS Thames Valley ICB – abolishing Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB and Frimley ICB, and incorporating East Berkshire from Frimley ICB
- NHS Surrey and Sussex ICB – abolishing Surrey Heartlands ICB and Sussex ICB, and incorporating Surrey wards from Frimley ICB
- NHS North Central London and North West London ICB (name to be confirmed) – abolishing North Central London ICB and North West London ICB
- NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB – boundary change to incorporate the Hampshire wards of Frimley ICB
In a written statement this week on the progress of aligning the boundaries of ICBs and strategic authorities, health minister Karin Smyth both Thames Valley ICB and Central East ICB may have their boundaries reviewed in future ‘to allow for alignment with any future strategic authorities, and newly established unitary authorities resulting from local government reorganisation’, she added.
The government also plans on deciding further ICB mergers and boundary changes next summer, ‘as local government reform progresses’, she said. These would come into effect on 1 April 2027.
Ms Smyth said: ‘To deliver a reduction in running costs in this financial year, a number of ICBs will cluster together to share leadership and functions; clustering ICBs remain legally separate organisations with their own financial allocations. It will mean that during this financial year the number of ICB senior leadership teams will go from 42 to 26.
‘In the longer term, there will be fewer, larger ICBs enabling them to harness a shared budget of sufficient size to improve efficiency and reduce running costs.
‘Our ambition is for these ICBs to be coterminous with one or more strategic authorities wherever feasible, a commitment made in the English devolution white paper and reaffirmed in our 10 Year Health Plan.’
ICBs were told in March they must cut their running costs by around 50% by October 2025.
In May it was revealed that the ICB running cost envelope will be reduced to £18.76 per head, and that this target must be reached by the end of Q3 in 2025/26. This figure has since been increased to £19 per head for this financial year due to inflation, according to financial reset director at NHS England, Glen Burley, at a Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) session on the work of the NHS this week.
The chief executive of NHS England, Sir James Mackey, revealed earlier this year that the variation in spend per ICB per head previously ranged from £49 to just less than £21 per head, therefore targets might be different for different ICBs.
Sir Jim revealed this week that NHS England is in talks with the Treasury around funding the ICB redundancies.
