Clause 28
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
9:45 am
Robert Syms (Shadow Minister (Local Government), Communities and Local Government; Poole, Conservative)
In the debate on the previous clause, the Minister referred to a number of contracts and to parcelling that, as Members may know, takes place when a piece of land is sold in three pieces or a contract is let under four. I have always inclined towards the cock-up, rather than the conspiracy, theory, and I know that it is terribly difficult to define—I know the Bill is trying to do so—what is part of one contract. I can therefore see a situation in which an authority might inadvertently be caught up in exceeding the limits and contravening clause 24 for a worthy cause such as a children’s home, school or project with a general public benefit.
Clause 28 is a hard clause that makes various actions void. What flexibility will the Government have if there is a contravention of a direction made under clause 24? Will contracts automatically be made void, resulting in all sorts of legal action by the companies that have entered into agreements with a council, or will the Government have the flexibility not to implement a direction under clause 24? In other words, will they nod through a contract that contravenes it as the result of a cock-up or for a worthy cause, rather than leave a difficult legal jungle in which a private sector company will be left in limbo, not knowing whether it will be paid or whom it should sue?