Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I will take noble Lords through what Clauses 14 and 15 actually do. I hope that will answer the questions the noble Lord has raised. I will refer to the amendments because I think that might shed a little light on some of those questions. Essentially, Clause 14—““Regulations for supplementing orders””—is a technical clause which allows the Secretary of State to make provision by regulations for incidental, consequential, transitional or supplementary purposes as a consequence of an order under Clauses 7 or 10 for structural and/or boundary change. Such provisions may include those outlined in Clause 15—I shall come to those in a minute. However, although it is a technical matter, the Secretary of State will provide in the individual restructuring orders for matters specific to each area—for example, the number of councillors. This power to make regulations will be used to make overarching regulations which are applicable to all structured areas as well, and may deal with common matters. This might involve, for example, general modifications needed to primary legislation regarding financial matters and so on. So there are two types of potential regulations. Essentially, all that Clause 14 does is enable the making of those kinds of regulations. While Clauses 13 and 14 allow the Secretary of State to make those incidental and consequential regulations, Clause 15 outlines what those provisions may include. They may include provision for the transfer of function, property rights or liabilities from a local authority or police authority for any area to another local authority or police authority whose area consists of or includes the whole or a part of the area. They also make arrangements for the transfer of staff, compensation for loss of office, pensions and other staffing matters. Obviously I do not need to tell the noble Lord that these provisions are essential to enable the transfer of functions and responsibilities from an old authority that will be dissolved under an order to the new authority. As the noble Lord said, it is important for that transition to be as smooth and with as little disruption as possible. What terms and conditions will apply to staff transferring is a matter on which discussions are being started with the LGA, the trade unions and other parties. No decisions have yet been taken but this clearly will develop in the course of the conversations that will be had, especially after the end of this month. I shall certainly keep the noble Lord informed about that. Once decisions are taken, they will be reflected in the orders and regulations under the Bill. The process will be transparent and follow the normal practice. That will happen once the Bill is enacted. Clause 15(2) provides that an order or regulation related to structural or boundary change, "““may for any incidental, consequential, transitional or supplementary purpose … modify, exclude or apply … any enactment … repeal or revoke any enactment””." In plain English, that means that the law can be adapted to fit the new authorities; for example, by amending the membership of police authorities. The clause provides examples of provision that can be made as a part or a consequence of the order. I hope that helps the noble Baroness. Perhaps I may say a few words about the amendments. Amendment No. 50 seeks to amend Clause 16, which enables public bodies to make agreements with respect to incidental measures. It will be necessary for public bodies to make more than one agreement. The precedent ““from time to time””—which I think is the issue raised in the amendment—is set out in the Local Government Act 1992 so, again, it is a concept of practice which is well known. I hope that will reassure noble Lords. Amendment No. 51 seeks to amend Clause 18, which provides for the establishment of staff commissions to facilitate the staffing arrangements in new local authorities. We have no intention or plans to establish new staff commissions, but the Bill allows the Secretary of State to give directions to any relevant authority affected by an order in respect of the payment of any expenses incurred by a staff commission in doing anything requested by the authority. Where expenses are not recovered from a relevant local authority, Clause 12 provides that these can be paid by the Secretary of State out of money provided by Parliament. It is a common-sense measure. Again, we have taken that precedent from the Local Government Act 1992, which allows staff commissions to be funded. These provisions allow us to implement structural boundary changes in a way that follows long-established procedures. I am sure that noble Lords would not want to press their amendments as they would essentially undermine those procedures. I hope that with that explanation—