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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

The noble Baroness said that it would be a matter of local choice whether other officers would be subject to a recruitment process or simply transferred. In her letter of 1 October she stated that, "““where a new authority is, in technical terms, a continuing authority, steps can be taken””—" I emphasise the word ““can””— "““such as recruiting new senior managers … to show that the new authority is not simply a ‘takeover’””." Presumably, therefore, if steps can be taken, steps may not be taken. As I have said, the noble Baroness talked about this being a matter for local choice, but it would be helpful to understand how the choice is arrived at. This is something that I have had the benefit of hearing the Minister explain privately by way of the committees which will be set up. Those who take the lead in those committees—the noble Baroness looks puzzled; I am thinking of the committees in which the authorities concerned will have some representation—will, I assume, be the ones to take the lead in this process. However, that begs the question: who will take the decisions on those committees? Given that this is such a sensitive area, an explanation of this in the House rather than just privately and in a letter is really quite important.