Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced £2.6bn for the NHS' sustainability and transformation partnerships (STP) in today's Budget.

The funding is to help deliver integrated care for patients, better out-of-hospital care and reduce waiting times.

It is part of an additional £10bn of capital investment for the NHS by 2020.

Mr Hammond said: ‘It is central to this government's vision that everyone has access to our NHS, free at the point of need.

‘First, we will deliver an additional £10bn package of capital investment over the course of this Parliament.

‘To support the sustainability and transformation plans which will make our NHS more resilient.

‘Investing for an NHS which is fit for the future.'

In July, the Local Government Association (LGA) called on the NHS to actively involve councillors as ‘equal' and ‘genuine' partners in STP development, after a LGA survey found that less than a quarter of councillors in England felt that they had been engaged in shaping them.