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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I do not want to say very much because I think that there is a total lack of communication here. The Minister has talked about a ““new world””, which has Orwellian overtones, or that is how it felt to me. I do not take any lessons from this Government about public involvement, grass roots politics and all the rest of it. I could talk about that for ever and a day, and while I do not claim that where I have been involved it has been perfect, it has happened. Everything is not bright and rosy, but this is a top-down provision that will cause more problems and make the position more difficult. We cannot get local democratic involvement and participation by setting it out in detailed national legislation. It must be done differently. I fear that because authorities are going to have to spend a lot of time, energy, resources and money doing exactly what the Government say, they will not be able to do what is useful.