§ Ms. HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether extra resources will be provided to support community health councils to represent local community interests once local authority representatives have been removed from health authorities, as proposed in the National Health Service White Paper.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI do not accept that health authority members appointed by local authorities were intended to fulfil the role described. As the White Paper says, the interests of the local community will continue (as they have in the past) to be represented by community health councils which act as a channel for consumer views. They receive adequate resources for that purpose and the White Paper does not impose any additional duties or burdens upon them.