Clause 11
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
5:30 pm
Philip Dunne (Ludlow, Conservative)
I rise to elaborate briefly on another provision to back up my hon. Friend’s point. Subsection (4)(e) refers to
“the establishment or membership of public bodies in any area affected”.
I draw the Minister’s attention to clause 23, where the definition of a public body includes
“a joint board, or joint committee, on which a local authority is represented”.
In many local authorities, representation by local councils extends to a vast array of bodies that would constitute public bodies under that definition. Many of them include bodies such as charities, in which a local authority is represented, housing associations and a host of other bodies that, by my reading of this definition, would be caught under the directive. It is not just a matter of the police authorities. The definition extends across the whole gamut of the public sector representation on bodies whether public, voluntary or private.