Moved by
Lord Warner
66: After Clause 9, insert the following new Clause—
“Devolving NHS responsibilities
(1) The Secretary of State may only exercise the powers in section 105A of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 to transfer to a combined authority, or other designated body working in association with a combined authority, responsibilities of any health service body, if he considers that—
(a) it is in the best interests of the population served by the authority in terms of their health outcomes;
(b) it will facilitate the discharge of his duties in sections 2 and 4 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (duties to improve the quality of health services and reduce inequalities); and
(c) it will improve the effectiveness and sustainability of local health and care services.
(2) Under subsection (1) an “other designated body” must be a body corporate with a governing body and a chief accounting officer that are able to produce annual audited public accounts and be accountable annually to the combined authority for its performance.
(3) Where there is no other designated authority, the combined authority must have a designated chief accounting officer for the NHS responsibilities transferred to it and must account separately in its accounts for the monies spent on those transferred responsibilities.
(4) In making a transfer of responsibilities and resources in accordance with subsection (1) the Secretary of State shall require a memorandum of understanding on future service intentions, models of service delivery and use of resources to be agreed between NHS England and the combined authority or the other designated body working in association with the combined authority.
(5) A memorandum of understanding under subsection (4) shall—
(a) be for a period of at least five years;
(b) be consistent with the Secretary of State’s responsibilities under the 2012 Act, including his Mandates to NHS England;
(c) ensure compliance with the regulatory and national service and information standards required of NHS commissioners and service providers; and
(d) specify the key health outcomes and improvements to be achieved for the period of the memorandum.
(6) The provisions of an agreed memorandum of understanding under subsection (5) shall be incorporated in an order made by the Secretary of State.
(7) An order may not be made under subsection (6) unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(8) Once an order is approved, the Secretary of State may not use his powers of intervention in the actions of the combined authority or other designated body unless they have demonstrated, after due warning, a consistent inability to meet their population’s health needs or to do so within the agreed funding provisions made available to the authority or other designated body.
(9) A combined authority or other designated body working in association with it under the provisions of this section shall publish an annual report on how responsibilities in the memorandum of understanding in subsection (4) have been discharged alongside the published annual accounts.
(10) In this section, “health service body” has the same meaning as in the National Health Service Act 2006.”