Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I am grateful for that explanation. It was almost as long as the three and a half pages the clause takes up in the Bill. It is an important issue. Two substantive points have been raised. First, whatever these bodies are called, there will have to be a generic name for them. What will the generic name be? It seems to me that whatever individual parishes and local councils are called in future, the generic name will be ““parish council”” because that is what exists at the moment in most places. If parish councils are set up in Lewisham, Kensington or Richmond in London they may have a different name, such as ““neighbourhood””, in which case they will become known as ““neighbourhood councils””. That may well be the case, but generally they will be known as parish councils because that is what they are at the moment, even if some of them change their name as the Minister suggested. There is a problem here. Secondly, there is the ecclesiastical point. There is no doubt that there is some confusion about that and it is not going to go away. Civil parish councils being able to change their names will not change that, although it might increase the confusion. In general, I am in favour of the provision.