Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I do not think that the amendment is necessary because Section 4 of the Local Government Act 2000 already requires any local authority, when preparing or modifying its community strategy, to, "““consult and seek the participation of such persons as they consider appropriate””," and to have regard to guidance. There is guidance on this already. Under it, the principal authorities need to ensure that the tiers above and below are appropriately involved and consider the involvement of neighbouring authorities. It goes on to say that parish and town councils should be able to play a significant role in reflecting the priorities of their local communities, because they are the democratic bodies with the closest links. The guidance recognises that such local councils can play an important role in helping to implement elements of the strategy. Because capacity varies from council to council, it suggests that the role that parish and town councils play should be a matter for local discussion with the relevant local strategic partnerships. We question whether adding this new provision, which requires consultation only with some parish councils, would add any value. It would probably rather restrict the process. There are other drafting problems with the amendment, which I shall not go into at the moment.