Health and Social Care Bill

My Lords, public health started in local government some 160 years ago—and as many of us have previously remarked, it started in Birmingham or Liverpool or Newcastle, depending on who you believe. But in all events it owes its origins to local government, and as many noble Lords have already made clear, local government has made enormous strides in promoting the welfare of the community and indeed the individual through the exercise of public health functions—notably, of course, in the realm of housing. It is because, as my noble friend Lord Rooker has pointed out, so many responsibilities still rest with district councils that his amendment, to which I have subscribed, clearly makes the case for ensuring that while we have a two-tier system in parts of the country, district councils should be involved. They have manifold responsibilities that have been exhaustively, not to say exhaustingly, adumbrated by the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, in his long list of their functions. I spotted two that for some reason he overlooked. One is noise abatement, which I am afraid is a significant health issue in many places, and the other is, perhaps more generally, community safety, which again can be a district council function. All these matters suggest that there ought to be a clear role for district councils in two-tier areas, certainly in relation to public health and, as perhaps we shall discuss at a later stage, in respect of other aspects as well. For that reason I hope the Minister will acknowledge that the amendments dealing with the role of district councils, including the amendment in my name which seeks to reaffirm that whatever else happens, the current duties relating to public health which apply to district councils should remain in place, should be accepted so that nothing in the Bill would dilute those responsibilities. The noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, has made a good case in Amendment 203C for clinical commissioning groups to promote public health. I do not purport to understand the groupings here. This is no reflection on the noble Baroness, but it seems to me that the other amendment would have been better placed in the debate around clinical commissioning groups rather than here. The words ““public health”” have registered, so the amendment seems to have been plonked here, it might be thought somewhat inappropriately. Her argument, of course, is absolutely valid, but it is perhaps slightly unfortunate that that amendment has been placed in this group. I have to say much the same about Amendment 79A, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler. There are, if I may say so, two things wrong with the amendment. First, it really talks about providing commissioning consortiums—or, as they are now called, clinical commissioning groups—with responsibilities. That, again, is in the wrong place, but even if it were in the right place I would find myself in difficulties supporting it, because it seems to set up a parallel system with local government. It would invest in clinical commissioning groups the possibility of commissioning a range of services: "““housing or housing related support … education and employment … transport and leisure services, and … other health-related services””." That last item I can understand, but the other three are primarily local government responsibilities. The implication is that either they would effectively take over or jointly commission services, in addition to local government. That is misconceived and likely to blur the position very significantly. So if the amendment were likely to be pressed to a vote, I could not find myself in the same Lobby as the noble Baroness. However, I apprehend that she will not be pressing it to a vote. The noble Baroness, Lady Barker, raises interesting points under the clause stand part debate, and they are ones that should be considered. However, at this time I propose to stand apart from clause stand part. She is right to raise these matters and perhaps they can be taken further in discussion, as can other of the suggestions in amendments that we have heard tonight. On Report, one hopes that the Government will have reflected on the points made, and particularly on the position of district councils as referred to by my noble friend Lord Rooker and the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, so that we can ensure that the position of such councils and the duty to co-operate, which is so essential, is embodied in the Bill and not left to chance. It is not universally the case, I am sorry to say, that the relationship between county and district councils is all that amicable. There have been cases in parts of the country where it has been very far from the case. It should be made clear to both groups that there is a duty to co-operate, particularly to the county authorities that they have to reflect the interests of the district councils, because of the importance of the functions that they exercise.