Andrew George
Liberal Democrat, St Ives
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what timetable he has set for (a) the publication of the Health white paper and the related introduction of associated legislative proposals and (b) the introduction of the proposed independent NHS Board.
Simon Burns
The Minister of State, Department of Health
The "Coalition: our programme for government" document confirms this Government's intention to establish an independent NHS Board to allocate resources and provide commissioning guidelines. The Queen's Speech also confirmed that there would be a Health Bill in this parliamentary Session. We will bring forward more detailed proposals in due course.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
