Schedule 1 - Constitution of public benefit corporations
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill
2:30 pm
Ms Hazel Blears (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (public health), Department of Health; Salford, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman has talked about entryism, as have a number of other hon. Members. Entryism is a legitimate cause for concern, and we
must ensure that it is guarded against in the constitution. On Tuesday, I explained that, in their constitution, the NHS foundation trusts will set out what they envisage will be the make-up of their boards of governors and how they intend to ensure that the membership of the boards is not dominated by one specific interest group. It is possible, within constitutional arrangements and frameworks, to ensure good and robust governance.
Some hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound), have said that the trusts would be made up of a small number of committed individuals. I ask my hon. Friend and other hon. Members to have more faith in democracy in their local communities and to realise that there will be myriad opportunities for people to become members of trusts. I envisage that people will be invited to join a trust by their general practitioner when they go for appointments or receive an out-patients appointment. They will also be able to respond to advertisements in the local press or return their application forms.
We are also considering how the patient advice and liaison services that are being established in trusts, as well as the independent complaints and advocacy service set up to act for people in complaints processes, can encourage people to join the trust. People may also be able to join by using the techniques that we are exploring to increase people's participation in democracy in the local government elections. By that I mean new technology such as the internet and text messages.
I assure hon. Members that the trusts will not be made up of a small group of the sharp-elbowed bourgeoisie, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) said. The trusts will not comprise a small group of committed people; we are looking for a mass membership for the organisation. That is why setting such a low minimum of 50 members is inappropriate. Equally, the amendment that would provide for 500 members would not necessarily guarantee a generally representative membership. That number may be too low for the public constituency of an NHS foundation trust that was previously an NHS trust. On the other hand, an NHS foundation trust established as a new organisation might initially have very few members. That should not be an impediment, provided that their application sets out their proposals for engaging an increasing number of people in their membership and staff membership.
The amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) states that there should be a minimum of 500 members in the organisation, and his subsequent amendments, particularly amendment No. 213, seek to do away with the public constituency. Perhaps that is another example of his wanting to have his cake and eat it—a phrase used by the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling). The amendments suggest that local public constituencies should be abolished and replaced by local government, thus reducing the direct democracy that can be had by people joining the
trust as members of the public constituency. In a phrase that will stay with me for ever, the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mrs. Calton) said that the Liberal Democrats can tailor their principles to suit local circumstances. I am sure that many hon. Members will remember that phrase for a long time.