The Health and Care Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025
The Regulations amended the Down Syndrome Act 2022 to update references to NHS bodies, replacing 'National Health Service Commissioning Board' with 'NHS England' and 'clinical commissioning group' with 'integrated care board'.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care made these Regulations under the powers granted by the Health and Care Act 2022 to make consequential amendments to the Down Syndrome Act 2022, which apply to England and Wales.
Specifically, the Regulations update the Schedule of the Down Syndrome Act 2022 by substituting references to the former National Health Service Commissioning Board with 'NHS England' and references to a 'clinical commissioning group' with 'an integrated care board', reflecting structural reforms enacted in the 2022 Act.
Arguments For
Ensures legal consistency by updating statutory references within the Down Syndrome Act 2022 to reflect the structural changes introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022, specifically the renaming of NHS England and the establishment of integrated care boards.
Formalizes the transition of responsibilities from abolished bodies (clinical commissioning groups) to their replacements (integrated care boards) concerning the functions related to Down Syndrome care under the relevant legislation.
Provides administrative clarity for public sector bodies by aligning outdated statutory language with current NHS governance structures, facilitating smoother operational implementation of health policies.
Arguments Against
The changes might necessitate immediate administrative updates across various documents and contracts that reference the old bodies, potentially incurring minor transitional costs for organizations.
While primarily consequential, any disruption in the amendment process, however slight, could momentarily impact the clarity of legal obligations concerning services for individuals with Down Syndrome until full compliance is achieved.
The necessity of these specific regulations highlights the bureaucratic overhead involved in large-scale legislative restructuring, requiring specific legal instruments merely to update terminology.
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 182 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
The responsible minister, the Secretary of State, has created these statutory instruments.
This action is authorized using specific legal powers provided by section 182 within the Health and Care Act 2022.
Citation, commencement and extent
1.
(1)
These Regulations may be cited as the Health and Care Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.
(2)
These Regulations extend to England and Wales.
The official title of these rules is the Health and Care Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025.
They legally start operating the day immediately following their official date of creation.
These Regulations are legally valid and apply only within the geographical boundaries of England and Wales.
Amendment of the Down Syndrome Act 2022
2.
In paragraph 2(1) (National Health Service) of the Schedule (relevant authorities and relevant functions) to the Down Syndrome Act 2022, for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute—
“(a) NHS England,
(b) an integrated care board,”.
This rule amends the Down Syndrome Act 2022.
It specifically targets paragraph 2(1) of that Act's Schedule, which lists key authorities and their duties related to the National Health Service (NHS).
The previous text specifying the responsible bodies in that list, identified as (a) and (b), is being replaced entirely.
The new text now names 'NHS England' as authority (a) and 'an integrated care board' as authority (b).
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