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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

We are talking about two processes. When the targets are negotiated with the local authority by the regional office representing the Secretary of State they will have regard to the 200 indicators. We used the example of worklessness, but we could use reducing childhood obesity, which might be sufficiently important across the country for every local authority to have a plan for dealing with it. They will have a very good idea of those designated targets because they will reflect those national priorities. Those national targets will be formally designated when they go to the Secretary of State, but the whole local area agreement will go to the Secretary of State to be signed off. It will be a formal process because the regional offices will be involved. When there is a revision, the Secretary of State will come into the process. The LAA will request a revision and there will be negotiation about why it is necessary and which of the targets have changed. As I have said, in a national emergency, there would be a new designated target to which all local authorities should have regard. This is all speculative, but the first process is the essential process.