---

Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

My comments relate to amendment No. 94. I should like my hon. Friend the Minister to give us some clarification of the orders that will set up the new arrangements. Can my hon. Friend confirm that the authorities will be new and that even where an existing authority, such as Durham county council, is to be used as the legal vehicle for the new authority, it will none the less be a new body? Will such a body combine the services and functions of the districts and the county in one new authority? Will the orders affirm bids that have already been made by local authorities, especially those to minimise job losses, and uphold the jobs outlined in successful bids? Will it be possible for money and resources to be moved to front-line services, so that cuts, if they have to be made, are in back-room services where there is duplication? Finally, will the orders deal quickly with a situation in which a council, as mine did in Durham city yesterday, takes a decision to sell off 50 pieces of land in advance of the new authority coming into being? Will there be something to stop it doing that and to ensure that such decisions are subject to proper scrutiny and consultation?