Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

Appointments to PCTs are made by the Secretary of State; the appointments are of local people on the advice of local authorities. I would ask this: why should not this information be available to local people and why should local people not be able to put themselves forward? The noble Baroness has already said that some local authority arrangements, such as with PCTs, are in fact not sufficient or working well. I am equally at a loss to understand why the party opposite is hostile to our efforts in trying to open up opportunities for local people to take part. It is no good the noble Baroness shaking her head, because we need this on the record. As I have said, I am happy to write a detailed letter explaining how these arrangements work and should be improved.