Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)

My Lords, in proposing that Clause 53 should not stand part of the Bill, I should emphasise that I am not opposed to the clause—far from it. We have now had three debates about the role of local government in the health service, and I want to probe how far the Government are really prepared to devolve and delegate responsibilities for both health improvement and the NHS to strategic local authorities. I will not repeat what has been said in our earlier debates, but this clause is very important. It makes consequential amendments to Section 18 of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 to reflect changes introduced into this Bill. The importance of Section 16 is that it provides Ministers with the ability to confer public authority functions on local authorities, including health and social care. The debate about the role for local authorities in relation to healthcare and health improvement is as old as the NHS itself. But since the 1974 reorganisation, it seems to me that the NHS and healthcare delivery has often stood remote and disconnected from the rest of public services such as social care, housing and education, which are under some kind of integration within local government and democratic control. I see devolution in health as a way to reconnect services, at least at a strategic level. I do not think this will happen without a stronger drive through powers devolved locally.