The Health and Care Bill provides for the abolition of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the transfer of assets, rights, liabilities and staff to integrated care boards (ICBs). As a CCG, you need to carry out an appropriate level of due diligence to ensure that relevant matters are identified and included in the transfer arrangements. Use the CCG Close Down and ICB Establishment Due Diligence Checklist as a starting point.

A review of your existing property arrangements is an essential part of the due diligence process and will enable ICBs to make property savings in the future. Find out below which steps you need to take to make the transition as easy as possible.

Summarise and allocate all of your property interests

1. Compile a comprehensive list of all property interests. This should include details of all properties occupied by your organisation and the basis of occupation (e.g. owned, leased, licenced, informal occupation, etc). Where property occupations are documented, make sure you have originals or at least copies of the relevant lease(s) or licence(s), and that you understand the terms of your occupation and liabilities in respect of each property.
2. Where existing CCG and new ICS boundaries don’t fully align, you will need to identify CCG properties and allocate them, so that they are transferred to the correct ICS.
3. Don’t forget to check any active contracts in relation to those properties (e.g. FM contracts, insurance policies etc.) and what steps (if any) you need to take in relation to those ahead of the transfer.

Moving teams into combined offices can lead to property savings

The effective merger of a number of existing CCGs to create ICBs (as well as the impact of increased levels of home working during the pandemic) creates clear opportunities for ICBs to make savings by co-locating teams from existing CCG offices into a smaller number of premises and disposing of surplus properties.

In order to do this, you first need to understand your rights and liabilities in relation to each property (including rent costs, lease terms, break rights, dilapidations responsibilities, etc.), so that you can make informed decisions on what premises can most easily be disposed of, and where savings can most easily be made.

How Capsticks can help

We can help you identify the full extent of the CCG/ICB estate and the terms of occupation by undertaking an audit of property interests and a high-level summary of the terms of occupation. This would include undertaking Land Registry searches to ensure that all registered property interests are identified. We’ll make sure you comply with the due diligence requirements and, at the same time, help you identify opportunities for future cost savings through estate rationalisation.

Following the dissolution of CCGs and establishment of ICBs, we can also assist with the Land Registry applications that will be required to ensure that all ICB property interests are transferred into the ICB’s name. This is essential in order to ensure that property interests are properly protected.

If you’d like an initial consultation to discuss how we can best support your property due diligence, please contact Henry Matveieff or Sam Hopkins.