Written evidence to be reported to the House
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
2:16 pm
Rosie Winterton: Through our NHS Centre for Involvement, which is a centre of excellence, we are able to exchange best practice and to work with LINKs organisations to pass on that sort of information. If LINKs wish to set up a national body, there is nothing to stop them from using their funding to do that. If they all wish to get together to form a subscription organisation, in rather the same way that community health councils used to, there is nothing to stop them, but we do not want to have funding tied up in a national body that could otherwise go directly to the LINKs organisations. We are very keen that funding should go to the front line, so that LINKs can operate as effectively as possible.