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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

My Amendment No. 128A would do exactly the same as the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham. We have had a long debate on this issue today, and I do not need to say too much, save to once again urge the Government to reconsider their adherence to the principle that we must have what they describe as strong models, which should be limited to three. At the moment, local authorities will have only three models available, and one of those is fairly unworkable, as we have discovered, and will be taken up by very few authorities. Given the different political situations, the different cultures, the different histories that obtain in local authorities in this country—from small rural district councils to the largest metropolitan areas and all the variety in between—the idea that there should be only three models of governance available for them to choose from is not one that a healthy democracy should have. I urge the Government to reconsider this.