Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I support my noble friend. I returned this morning from a local government conference in Birmingham, which is continuing today. Over the past two days there has been nothing talked about but the chaos in some authorities awaiting decisions which they hope to receive over the next few weeks. I hope the Minister will refer to that in her reply because it is of considerable concern. I have been asked by authorities to put them out of their misery or tell them where they are going. I totally support what my noble friend has said. I believe there are some benefits in the unitary system in some places, and thought needs to be given to that, but we must not be obsessed about structure; the real concern is about function. In the debate on Amendment No. 1, there was reference to what local government does and how it serves our communities; to keep talking about function is a big distraction. We need to get on and deliver locally. This has been a grave mistake by the Government. If they intended to do something they should have done it in a different way. For us to be debating this issue now, months and months after it was initiated, is totally wrong. I hope that any future Government will not do it in this way. We have a lot to learn from this and I hope the Minister will be able to give a positive reply to the short debate.