Government ambitions to introduce integrated care are at risk because the Department of Health allocates money to clinical commissioning group and local authorities in a fragmented and complex way, a leading health think tank has reported.

Recent changes to the health system - among them local government's new public health responsibilities and split of this funding from mainstream NHS cash - demand improvements to the current way central government allocates resources, a new report by The King's Fund argues.

In addition to making practical recommendations for improving how NHS England should undertake its new role in deciding allocations, the study explores how different ways of moving resources across the health system could support greater integration with other services through a community budget style single cashpot arrangements.