Mr John Denham (Minister of State, Department of Health; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)

I beg to move amendment No. 281, in page 33, line 39, leave out from beginning to end of line 2 on page 34 and insert—

`( ) The relevant authority may by regulations make, in relation to Schedule 8A arrangements or persons providing or assisting in the provision of services under such arrangements, provision corresponding (whether or not exactly) to enactments containing provision relating to—

(a) arrangements made under section 28C of the 1977 Act (provision of personal medical or dental services); or

(b) pilot schemes made under Part I of the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997,

or relating to persons who provide or perform services under them.'.

Mr David Madel (South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)

With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 282 and 283.

Mr John Denham (Minister of State, Department of Health; Southampton, Itchen, Labour)

The clause is intended to provide the power to make regulations so as to apply to local pharmaceutical services other aspects of the existing legislation about PMS and PDS that are not explicitly covered in the Bill. As there is already a well-established model to follow in the NHS (Primary Care) Act 1997 and elsewhere, it does not seem necessary to go into the same exhaustive detail in the Bill. The main elements of LPS arrangements are covered in the clauses with which we have already dealt. This regulation-making power will allow us to deal with the remaining details by applying the existing model, with modifications where necessary. For example, it will allow us to extend the role of local pharmaceutical committees to representing those LPS providers who want such representation.

On reflection, we concluded that the powers originally drafted did not meet our requirements. Government amendment No. 281 replaces subsection (1) with a more extensively drafted and clearer provision. Government amendments Nos. 282 and 283 make consequential changes to subsection (2). The resulting power will remain limited to mirroring legislation that applies to PMS and PDS, but it will be expressed rather differently. The amendments make it clear that the Bill covers provisions not only about PMS and PDS arrangements, but also about the people providing and performing them.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 282, in page 34, line 4, leave out `provision' and insert `such enactment'.

No. 283, in page 34, line 4, after `modifications', insert `, if any,'.—[Mr. Denham.]

Clause 41, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.