In addition to his oral statement to the House, the Secretary of State has provided Parliament with a written Statement of Reasons for the decision. The Statement of Reasons makes reference to the evidence given to the First Tier Information Rights Tribunal by Una O’Brien, the Department of Health Permanent Secretary, and Lord O’Donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary.

Statements provided to the Tribunal in advance of their appearance at the hearing are also provided: Statement on decision to veto the disclosure of the Transition Risk Register

It also sets out the mitigating actions that have taken place since November 2010 and which are planned in the future, while protecting the language and form of the Risk Register.

The Department of Health has also published today a Scheme for Publication, which sets out proposals for reviewing and releasing material relating to the transition programme in the future.

See Transition Programme Risks: Review of November 2010 risk register

See Transition Programme Scheme for Publication

See Transition Programme Risk Management Strategy

Material published under the Scheme for Publication will be published in the Transition area of this website.

The Transition Risk Register will not be published – see press release

• Programme Status
• DH Transition
• New Local Government Arrangements
• AOB & Next Meeting

A summary of the meeting is attached below:

The Board agreed that the Board would be called the DH, Social Care and Public Health Transition Board (DHSC&PHTB).

There were no matters arising from the last meeting, and no amendments to the minutes of the last meeting

Programme Status

2.1    The Transition Director summarised the programme status and progress, issues, and proposals for the next Board. The latest version of the transition risk register was also considered.

2.2    The Governance & Accountability workstream will now be part of the DHSC&PHTB rather than the Cross Cutting Board. It should be factored into future reports.

2.3    It was agreed that all SROs would ensure that plans were refreshed and up to date and that all programmes would engage closely with the Integrated Programme Office on this.

DH Transition

3.1      The SRO for DH Transformation & Business Support Services  Transformation (BSST) updated the Board on three key areas.

• Transfer of functions / people
• Systems Capability
• Communications

Accountability Flows
3.2    The Chief Executive of the NHS and the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health will retain accountability for moving functions. Where a function passes from the responsibility of one Accounting Officer to another, the change will be formally recorded by a variation agreement.

New Local Government Arrangements

4.1    The SRO for Local Government, Health & Well Being Boards, and Healthwatch updated the Board on the approach the LG programme was undertaking to engage LG in the development and implementation of health and care reforms.

4.2    The interim Director for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response noted that it was important to get the structures and relationships at a local level right, to enable effective arrangements for EPRR to be put in place.

4.3    The Board agreed that Local Government should be represented more in governance arrangements.

AOB & Next Meeting

5.1    The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 13 December.

• Informatics Transition
• Estates
• Data Protection
• Programme Status & Overview
• Stakeholder Engagement & Communications
• Handover process

Comments on the October minutes were received. All actions arising from the October meeting were now closed or in hand.

Informatics Transition
2.1    SRO Informatics reported on stakeholder engagement around informatics, programme focus, and the latest on proposed structures for the future state.

2.2    There were discussions around the governance of systems during transition and once the changes had been completed, and around the roles of the new informatics organisations. Plans for next steps were in development.

Estates
3.1    The SRO for the DH Enabled Estate and the SRO for the NHS PCT Operational Estate outlined the plans for implementing the Estates programmes going forward.

3.2    The Commissioning Development team was considering the implications of what was planned for the new SHA clusters, and there was a wider discussion around the options for handling the NHS estate.

Data Protection
4.1    The SRO for the DH Enabled Estate outlined proposals for ensuring data handovers to new bodies would not result data loss. It was agreed that an informal network could assist with sharing of best practice in this area.

Programme Status & Overview
5.1    The Transition Director reported back on cross cutting workstream progress.

5.2    The Board considered the latest position regarding programme risk, and considered the latest version of the transition risk register.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communications
6.1    Joint SRO, Comms and Stakeholder Management updated the Group on Communications and Stakeholder Engagement around the Programme.

Handover process
7.1    The Head of the Integrated Programme Office Programme Management Office presented proposals for a formal and documented handover process for use across all organisations and functions covered by the Transition Programme.

Next Meeting
8.1    The next meeting will be held on Monday 19 December.

• Programme Status
• HR Workstream – People Transition
• Business Case
• Informatics
• Estates
• Stakeholder Engagement & Communications

There were no comments on the minutes of the final Transition Programme Board (TPB) meeting (30 September). The Board confirmed that it was content with this Board’s Terms of  Reference. All actions arising from the last TPB meeting had been closed or were in hand.

Programme Status
2.1   Transition Director reported on cross cutting workstream progress.

2.2  The Board considered the latest position regarding programme risk, and considered the latest version of the transition risk register. It also agreed the next report for the Executive Board.

HR Workstream – People Transition
3.1    The HR Programme Director set out the proposed strategy for communicating changes at an individual level after Christmas. There was discussion around further information required, decisions to be taken, appointments due to be made, and opportunities for staff. The Board considered how budget issues were linked to those around design, size, functions and costs.

Business Case
4.1    The Board agreed with the costs assumptions used in the Business Case, and discussed what additional information would be required. There would be further versions of the Business Case issued in late December and June 2012.

Informatics
5.1    The workstream’s scope and governance arrangements were being revisited. There was discussion around ensuring all parts of the system were engaged in the proposals for informatics across the system, and would remain so as organisational changes got underway. A further paper would be prepared for the November Cross Cutting Board.
Estates
6.1    The Board approved the recommendation in Annex A of the Estates paper and agreed to the framework set out in Annex B of the paper. Discussion on the paper covered savings to be secured, the size of the new property vehicle, when it would become operational, and its scope.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communications
7.1    The Communications team was assuring workstreams’ plans, and work was underway around issuing tools and aides. Comms would provide a more detailed update to the November meeting.

Next Meeting
8.1    The next meeting will be held Thursday 24 November.

Other issues disscussed at the meeting included:

• Programme Status

• System Overview

• Public Health System Operating Model (including Public Health England (PHE))

A summary of the meeting is attached below:

Programme Status

Programme Overview
2.1    The Transition Director updated the Board on the governance structure, a summary of what the DHTPB’s role would be, a summary of status and risk, and considered the latest versions of the transition risk register and the Forward Look.

2.2    There was discussion around the need for Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response (EPRR) to be considered in a cross-programme context. The Transition Director reported that the SRO for the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) and the Establishment Director of the NHS Commissioning Board would make the link across to the NHS CB.

Role of the DHTPB
2.3    The Transition Director explained that the DH Transition Programme Board was designed to ensure that programmes were meeting milestones, on track and managing risks effectively. The DH Transition Programme Board would report monthly to the Executive Board.

Board Name
2.4    It was agreed that, as its remit went wider than just DH, the Group should be re-named the “DH Group and Local Government Board” but to be confirmed with the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health as the chair at the next meeting.

Forward Planning
2.5    The Transition Director indicated that much more detailed planning was required. It was agreed that the IPO would work with programme and work stream leads to challenge plans and develop further milestones as part of the forward planning process.

Arms Length Body (ALB) Engagement
2.6    The SRO of the Transition Programme asked about engagement with those closer to the programme, and ALBs in particular.

System Overview

3.1    Representatives from the Policy, Strategy and Finance Directorate in the Department of Health set out the unique roles of the organisations in the proposed new structure, and how they fit together. More work will be taken forward in this area.

Public Health System Operating Model (including Public Health England (PHE))

4.1    The SRO for Emergency Preparedness discussed the Public Health System Operating Model. Further work will be taken forward to work out the international dimension, the role of the Secretary of State, and other Government Departments.

AOB

Next Meeting

5.1    The next meeting will be held on Monday 7 November