Schedule 1 - Constitution of public benefit corporations
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill
5:00 pm
Ms Hazel Blears (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (public health), Department of Health; Salford, Labour)
To respond briefly to the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire, the trust will get extra support and funds. We shall make an announcement on that shortly. The trusts to go forward to the detailed application point of the second stage have not yet been announced, but they will need extra support and assistance to be able take on the additional duties. Many are enthusiastic about taking on the extra area of work, because they see it as integral to their success as locally driven and managed organisations.
The model constitution is being worked on now and should be available fairly shortly. It will not be a statutory constitution; nowhere in the Bill does it say that the constitution must be used. However, the source book is being prepared by the external reference group, which is considering good governance in a range of sectors from social enterprise to co-operatives, companies and other organisations. That experience will be drawn on to give support, so the model will be helpful.
We shall respond to the Select Committee in detail, which is the Government's normal procedure. However, I do not subscribe to the view that the system proposed is fragmented and will lead to inequity. The system will lead to good governance and good local management, which will drive services.
In response to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford, I would not accuse him of being in smug mode. The mode that he is in now is surprising to me; it is a timid mode and he lacks self-confidence. We are embarking on a bold, radical, exciting and worthwhile course of action. If the hon. Gentleman feels that the relevant organisations cannot sort out local good governance and democracy, he does not have the confidence in them as the leaders in the national health service that I have. Speaking from the party that introduced the Child Support Agency and the fiasco and chaos that went with it, the hon. Gentleman is hardly in a position to lecture the Government about putting systems in place. I have absolute confidence that the NHS will respond in a magnificent fashion, of which it has a history, and will embrace the new democratic agenda with enthusiasm and imagination.