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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

My Lords, perhaps I may intervene before the Minister sits down. This is one of the issues that has arisen in Northumberland. The county, obviously, would very much prefer that it was just the chief executive and maybe one or two officers but, because of the position of their staff, the districts want to have some of the jobs that will come with the new authority and would like there to be more open jobs at senior level. There is a conflict here. The guidance says that where you have a transitional authority it is expected that the county will take the lead. Obviously it does—and people, in a sense, respect that—but if the lead is taken by the county and does not include enough people from the districts having and a voice, the county can do what it likes. Our experience, which I will explain later, is that that is what is happening, and people are very unhappy about it, even though they are trying to work together for the good of Northumberland.