Commentary on Sections Part 5 – Public involvement and local government Joint strategic needs assessments and strategies Section 192 – Joint strategic needs assessments
1173.This section amends section 116 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (the 2007 Act), so that a local authority, and CCGs that have a boundary within or overlapping or coinciding with that local authority, have a duty to prepare a joint strategic needs assessment or assessment of relevant needs. A joint strategic needs assessment is essentially a process to identify the current and future health and social care needs of a population in a local authority area.
1174.Subsection (2) amends subsection (4) of section 116 of the 2007 Act so that the duty to prepare the assessment of relevant needs is transferred from each partner PCT to each partner CCG of the local authority.
1175.Subsection (3) amends subsection (6) of section 116 of the 2007 Act which sets out when there is a relevant need for the purposes of section 116. The amendments replace references to a partner PCT with references to partner CCGs. They also widen the scope of a “relevant need” so that it covers both the current and future needs of the local population, and not just current needs.
1176.Subsection (4) amends subsection (7) of section 116 of the 2007 Act to replace references to “the partner PCT” with references to “the partner clinical commissioning group or the National Health Service Commissioning Board”.
1177.Subsection (5) amends subsection (8) of section 116 of the 2007 Act so that the duty to co-operate transfers from each partner PCT to each partner CCG of the local authority.
1178.Subsection (5) also imposes an additional duty on CCGs and local authorities to involve the Local Healthwatch organisation and the people who live or work in the local authority’s area when preparing their joint strategic needs assessment. This subsection also replaces the duty to consult each relevant district council when preparing the assessment with a duty to involve each such council.
1179.Subsection (6) inserts a new subsection (8A) into section 116 of the 2007 Act to enable the local authority or partner CCG to consult any person it thinks appropriate when preparing the joint strategic needs assessment.
1180.Subsection (7) substitutes the definition of “partner PCT” with a definition of “partner clinical commissioning group” and makes consequential amendments to the definition of “relevant district council”.