Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 (Consequential Modifications and Saving) Order 2015 [Draft]
I hope to dispose of agenda items 3 and 4 fairly quickly. Members will be grateful to hear that they are the final items on the agenda. We have one affirmative instrument before us. As usual with affirmative instruments, we will have an evidence-taking session with the cabinet secretary and her officials. Once members have had all their questions answered, we will move to the formal debate on the instrument.
The cabinet secretary is joined by the Scottish Government officials Alison Taylor, the head of strategy and delivery—integration; and Clare McKinlay, a solicitor in the food, children, education, health and social care division. The cabinet secretary will make a brief opening statement.
The order makes minor amendments to primary and secondary legislation all of which are in consequence of changes made by the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. It also makes a saving provision to allow the integration arrangements that are already operating in the Highland area to transition into arrangements under the new legislation without a gap and at a date that is locally determined.
First, the order will ensure that integration joint boards, once established, have similar duties to those of health boards and local authorities, such as the requirement on them to give certain information to the provider of the patient advice service, through an amendment to include the joint boards as relevant bodies under the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011.
Secondly, the order will ensure that certain other pieces of legislation will continue to work properly when functions are delegated under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014.
Thirdly, the order will make the necessary changes following the repeal of section 5A of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which made provision for local authority plans for community care services. That updates the statute book to remove or replace out-of-date references.
Fourthly, the order will include a savings provision so that the arrangements made under sections 15 to 17 of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 relating to the Highland area may continue until they are replaced with integration arrangements under the 2014 act.
Members will wish to note that the order does not take forward any new policy, but I am happy to take questions on any of the modifications that it contains.
Thank you, cabinet secretary. Are there any questions from members?
I have a quick question. Does the order suggest that the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 is not flexible enough to allow local arrangements to come into play where people can find a good way of working together? Highland Council and NHS Highland are probably the only bodies that have gone down the road of integration as they have, but is the legislation flexible enough to allow local arrangements where they work well?
Yes, it is.
Absolutely. The provision regarding the Highland authorities is there to ensure that they can continue to use the arrangements that they have already put in place until they move under the auspices of the new act. It does not have any bearing on flexibility for local decisions to suit local circumstances.
As there are no other questions from members, we move to agenda item 4, which is the formal debate on the affirmative Scottish statutory instrument that we have just considered. I invite the cabinet secretary to move motion S4M-12645.
Motion moved,
That the Health and Sport Committee recommends that the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 (Consequential Modifications and Saving) Order 2015 [draft] be approved.—[Shona Robison.]
Motion agreed to.
Thank you for your time this morning, cabinet secretary. That concludes our business for today.
Meeting closed at 13:10.Previous
Seven-day Services