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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

My Lords, briefly, I support what the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, said. The transitional arrangements will be absolutely fraught. Not only will we have councillors who may be losing their seats and their role but a significant number of staff on these authorities will find themselves either bidding for their own jobs or looking for work elsewhere. This is an extremely sensitive area and we must be careful that we do not upset too many people on the way. I guess that once most people see the new authorities coming up they will understand that there will be very substantial changes. How those changes are handled and how the districts relate to the counties will be important in deciding whether they work satisfactorily.