HERTFORDSHIRE is set to join the ‘Central East’ cluster of NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) this spring, as part of cost-cutting measures to reduce spending by 50% reports the Local Democracy Reporter.

NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are statutory bodies in England that plan and commission local NHS services. The organisations replaced Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in 2022.

Currently, Hertfordshire is joined by West Essex as part of the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB).

But from April 1, Hertfordshire will join the Central East cluster of ICBs alongside Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.

The Central East cluster is expected to formally merge and become one organisation and will cover a population of around 3.5 million. Essex meanwhile, will join the Greater Essex cluster.

According to NHS England, while clustering ICBs will work together through shared leadership and combined teams, “they will remain separate legal entities”.

A report submitted to Hertfordshire County Council’s Health and Well-being Board stated: “Going forward, ICBs will act as strategic commissioners, focusing on improving population health, tackling health inequalities, and delivering better value across the system.

“The reset of ICBs to focus on strategic commissioning is expected create an even greater focus on the evaluation of commissioned services, while the larger footprint of the ICB is expected to create efficiencies and economies of scale.”

In March 2025, it was announced that ICBs needed to reduce their running costs by 50% by the end of the financial year. In May, NHS England published its “Model ICB Blueprint”, which laid out how ICBs should be run under this reduced budget model.

The document hinted at mergers as a way forward – with the suggestion that ICBs could work together over a larger patch to deliver the necessary savings. Merged ICBs will still be in charge of commissioning local health services, and their role as “strategic commissioners” was reinforced in the Government’s 10 Year Plan for Health, published in July 2025.