The Health and Social Care Act 2012 introduced the concept of a Licence for providers of NHS services, and the NHS Provider Licence was subsequently introduced in February 2013. Foundation Trusts were licensed from April 2013.
Compliance with the requirements of the Provider Licence is routinely monitored through the NHS England Single Oversight Framework (SOF), but on an annual basis after the financial year end, all Trusts must self-certify as to whether they satisfy the requirements of the licence, specifically, that they have:
- effective systems to ensure compliance with the conditions of the NHS provider licence, NHS legislation and the duty to have regard to the NHS Constitution (condition G6);
- complied with governance arrangements (condition FT4), including confirmation that Governors have received enough training and guidance to carry out their roles; and
- for NHS foundation trusts only, the required resources available if providing commissioner requested services (CRS) (condition CoS7)
The Audit Committee reviewed the 2022/23 self-certifications for Condition G6 and CoS7, including training provided to Governors and Condition FT4 on behalf of the Board at its meeting on 22 May 2023. The Board endorsed this decision on 5 July 2023.