Briefing / Pooled budgets and the better care fund

The better care fund (the fund) aims to drive closer integration and improve outcomes for patients and service users and carers. The fund will be set up as a pooled budget - a type of partnership arrangement whereby NHS organisations and local authorities contribute an agreed level of resource into a single pot (the ‘pooled budget’) that is then used to commission or deliver health and social care services.

This guidance looks at the relevant legislation and regulations that underpin the operation of a pooled budget and the governance and finance issues that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities need to be aware of. It also considers the accounting arrangements that will apply and need to be thought through in advance of preparing the signed agreement that will underpin the pooled budget. The purpose of this guidance is to provide an overview of the governance and accounting issues associated with the operation of the fund.