Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 209ZB: 209ZB: Clause 107, page 69, line 1, leave out paragraph (c) The noble Baroness said: I will speak also to Amendment No. 209AA. This amendment would delete paragraph (c) of Clause 107(1), which talks about targets relating to, "““one or more other persons acting, or having functions exercisable, in the area of the responsible local authority””." I applaud the recognition of the potentially wide role of ““other persons””. However, I am not entirely clear where the boundary lies on the targets to impose a duty on local authorities and their partners. When partners outside the local authorities are brought in, what duties are imposed on them? The amendment simply asks for an explanation of that paragraph. Amendment No. 209AA relates to subsection (3) of Clause 107, where we are told that a target, "““relates to a person other than the responsible local authority if—""(a) the exercise by the person of … his functions … could contribute to the attainment of the target””." I seek to understand who ““a person”” is for this purpose, particularly whether a person under this paragraph includes a partner authority, or another partner, to put it another way. This is again a wide provision. Almost anything could contribute to the attainment of a target. We talked before the dinner break about what we on these Benches see as the danger of an enormous amount of paperwork not the contrary, which is what we should be expecting. This is one of those Bills where the more one reads it, the more puzzled one becomes about certain provisions. Indeed, as other people speak to it, one sees new implications. That is probably the definition of classic literature, although I would not class the Bill as that. My noble friend says that it is a work of fiction. I see more and more puzzles in this, and I hope that the Minister can help me. I beg to move.