Streeting Has ICBs in his Sights
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- Published: Monday, 30 June 2025 09:46
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Governing may not be as easy as it looks from the opposition benches. Last July, Wes Streeting almost bounced into office as Health Secretary. He saw the Conservatives reduced to a rump, a broadly welcoming BDA, and had a cunning plan to remove the NHS England thorn that had been in his predecessors‘ side. What could possibly go wrong?
A year later, many argue that the biggest electoral threat to Labour now comes from Reform rather than the Conservatives. Opposition politicians of all shades, at regional and local government level have a great interest in healthcare including dentistry, and are getting involved in the debate about the access crisis that stubbornly refuses to go away.
Reducing the number of ICB’s from 42, on the basis of cost cutting, was intended to be another way of establishing stronger central control for Streeting’s Department of Health and Social Care. But there is growing opposition to this. For dentistry, a number of ICBs have been able to come up with schemes that are fine tuned to meet local needs. Often working with LDC’s they have been able to make progress in areas such as providing urgent appointments, and getting to priority groups.
Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who was recently voted in as the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, is a former Conservative MP who switched to Reform in late 2024. A one-time member of the Commons health select committee she has previously commented on the dental access crisis. Now she has strongly objected to the planned ICB mergers that will affect her area, which happens to be a well-recognised dental desert.
Writing to Wes Streeting, she said that she was “deeply concerned” at the proposals to merge her local board into Derby and Derbyshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. As mayor of the authority that covers Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire she argues that residents need services that are better tailored to their specific needs, particularly those in rural and coastal communities.
The centralising effect of the proposed changes is illustrated by the new combined ICB covering a population of 3.2 million people spread over an area of more than 4,500 square miles.
The immediate plans from the Department of Health appear to contradict a government spokesman who recently said they had a long-term ambition to align authority and health boundaries. This would be more in line with Dame Andrea’s proposal for a Greater Lincolnshire ICB, which would be consistent and aligned with other public services, and could still provide some cost savings.
As this parliament progresses and Reform set out to offer a full range of policies, they may see health as fertile territory to both establish a distinct offering, and to attack the government.
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