London boroughs have been warned they have a ‘relatively brief window of opportunity’ to influence health and social care devolution to the capital.
The warning comes after the Government and NHS made a series of devolution commitments in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last year.
A report to a meeting of London Councils’ latest leaders committee said the degree to which powers and freedoms could be unlocked was dependent on boroughs’ ‘abilities in creating robust local proposals’.
The report read: ‘There is a time-limited window of opportunity in the period to come, likely to last between now and the summer, when boroughs will have the greatest opportunity to shape the delivery of reform and show how boroughs are leading the future of health and care in the capital based on a deep and thorough understanding of local need and circumstances.
‘During this period, the absence of a clear borough-led proposition risks leaving a vacuum into which models developed from other sources could be inserted.’
The report continued: ‘The evolving national policy landscape, such as the move to deliver integrated care systems (ICS), tends to emphasise an approach to integration at a greater scale than the borough without excluding borough-level integration.
‘In absence of a firm borough vision, the local models are more likely to end up being shaped by the delivery of the national ICS plan.
‘If London is to take advantage of the MoU, it will require boroughs to come forward with clearly articulated ambitions and plans for integration.’