In line with the Review of Public Administration (RPA), seven Local Commissioning Groups (LCGs) were established in April 2007 in shadow form to support a designate regional commissioning organisation.

LCGs were set up to actively engage GPs, other primary care professionals and the voluntary and community sector in the planning and redesign of services to secure better services for the communities they serve.

The Minister, in his announcement on 1 July 2008, referred to five local LCGs to reflect coterminosity with existing local government structures. When he has given the configuration further consideration, the website will be updated to reflect this.