Updates between versions will be documented in the table below and clearly highlighted in the document.  

Introduction

This guidance supports integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner NHS trusts and foundation trusts (referred to collectively in this guidance as ‘partner trusts’) to develop their joint capital resource use plans (JCRUPs) with system partners.

The National Health Service Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Care Act 2022 (the amended 2006 Act), requires ICBs and their partner trusts to prepare their JCRUP before the start of the financial year.

It should be read alongside guidance on NHS priorities and operational planning, including the capital planning guidance.

Action required of ICBs and their partner trusts

ICBs and their partner trusts must:

• prepare a plan setting out their planned capital resource use before the start of each financial year (by 1 April)
• publish the plan and give a copy to their integrated care partnership, health and wellbeing boards and NHS England

The relevant sections of the Health and Care Act 2022 are sections 14Z56 and 14Z57.

The boards of the ICB and its partner trusts will approve their JCRUP and will expect to see clear alignment with the capital plan, the system’s joint forward plan (JFP) and the integrated care system’s infrastructure strategies. ICBs must report against the plans in their annual report.

ICBs and partner trusts should agree the process for finalising and signing off the JCRUP. The final version must be published in an easily accessible place on the ICB website, with a copy given to the integrated care partnership, health and wellbeing boards and NHS England. The ICBs and their partner trusts will be held to account for its delivery.

Purpose of the joint capital resource use plan

Legal responsibility for the timely preparation and publication of the JCRUP lies with the ICB and its partner trusts.

Systems have flexibility to determine their JCRUP’s scope as well as how it is developed and structured. However, we encourage systems to use the supporting materials in this guidance so that, as a minimum, the JCRUP describes how capital is contributing to ICBs’ priorities and delivering benefits to patients and healthcare users.

The published plans aim to provide transparency for local residents, patients, NHS health workers and other NHS stakeholders on the prioritisation and expenditure of capital funding by ICBs and their partner organisations to achieve their strategic aims. overspend their allocated capital and ICBs’ responsibilities to report annually on their use of resources.

Relationship with NHS planning

ICBs and their partner trusts will continue to separately submit specific operational and financial information as part of the nationally co-ordinated NHS planning process. We will seek to avoid duplication and ensure alignment between NHS planning submissions and the public-facing JCRUP.

Developing the joint capital resource use plan: Guidance and requirements

Overview

To help ICBs fulfil their legal duties, this guidance document has been developed alongside both the JFP guidance on financial duties and estates requirements (which have been shared as part of the planning guidance) and the ICS infrastructure strategies.

The boards of the ICB and its partner trusts will approve their JCRUP and will expect to see clear alignment with the system’s JFP, the ICS’s infrastructure strategies and the financial planning process.

Supporting materials

NHS England has developed the following materials to help systems prepare their plans. These are included as appendices to this document and can also be found on the NHS Planning FutureNHS collaboration platform.

Plan checklist (Appendix A)

ICBs and their partner trusts should use this checklist to produce their JCRUP. It sets out the minimum requirements for what should be included in the plan and aims to support local considerations when developing a robust capital plan. ICBs and their partner trusts should develop their plans in accordance with local circumstances, building on existing work within systems.

System capital delegated expenditure limit (CDEL) table (Appendix B)

ICBs and their partner trusts should use this table in their JCRUP to present a high-level summary of the total CDEL impact of system plans for the forthcoming financial year.

The figures included in Appendix B should be based upon the total ICB spend plus the sum of total provider CDEL for all providers in the system. The figures reported must be consistent with the final system (IPR) and provider (FPR) financial plan submissions. To assist with this process, the updated capital plan tabs within the IFR forms this year contain a version of the Appendix B table that can be downloaded and included within the JCRUP. Any significant changes post-plan should be presented as a revised version of the plan, with appropriate version control noted.

The table includes a section for narrative on the main CDEL categories of expenditure, where details of the key schemes such as new buildings and developments, backlog maintenance or other types of expenditure can be outlined, including any other information not included in other sections of the JCRUP.

This should give the reader additional information on how capital is prioritised and spent in the system to support its strategic objectives and, ultimately, deliver benefits to patients.

JCRUP template (Appendix C)

Systems can use this non-mandated template to present their information. It is a suggested layout and is not a separate document that needs to be prepared or submitted in addition to the final published JCRUP. Please note the template contains the same requirements as the checklist.

Overall, ICBs and their partner trusts can publish their final JCRUP in a format of their choice, providing, as a minimum, that the final published plan meets the requirements set out in this document.

Publication

Once finalised, systems must publish their JCRUP and share it with:

• the integrated care partnership for the board’s area
• relevant health and wellbeing boards
• NHS England 

A copy of the published plan or link to the website must be shared with NHS England at england.capitalcashqueries@nhs.net.

Submission

No formal submission will be required in 2025/26.

ICBs must share a copy of the final plan with NHS England once it is published, but this does not constitute a formal submission. Plans should be sent to england.capitalcashqueries@nhs.net.

We request that published capital plans are shared by 30 June 2025, or within 6 weeks of final financial plans being submitted to NHS England, whichever is the later date

Revision of joint capital resource use plans

The published plan may be revised if changes need to be made. If an ICB and their partner trusts make significant changes to their capital plans, a revised plan must be published and shared with the bodies outlined above within 1 calendar month. If the changes are not significant, a document setting out the changes must be published.

While revised plans may be published and shared, any financial planning information, as submitted in final system and provider financial planning submissions, will not be updated. Instead, any revisions to joint capital resource use plans should be treated as a revised forecast. The exception to this is when a formal capital plan resubmission process is required.

Annual report

ICBs are required to produce an annual report detailing how they discharged their functions in the previous financial year.

The annual report must review and comment on the extent to which the ICB board has exercised its functions in respect of the published plans – that is, ensure a capital resource use plan has been prepared by the start of the financial year, ensure that it is published and shared with the relevant bodies specified in the Act.

Questions

Any queries on these materials should be sent to england.capitalcashqueries@nhs.net.

Publication reference: PRN01754