§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) which joint liaison committees between health boards and local authorities have amended their constitutions in response to the proposals for changes contained in the April 1985 Scottish Office circular, "Community Care: Joint Planning and Support Finance";
(2) which joint liaison committees now have meetings which are open to the press and to the public;
171W(3) which joint liaison committees now have voluntary sector representatives as a full and regular part of their membership; and which committees have them in membership but only on a partial or restricted basis;
(4) what are the various mechanisms which joint liaison committees have adopted for contact with, and for seeking representations from, the voluntary sector.
§ Mr. John MacKayInformation on the practices and constitution of individual joint liaison committees is not collected centrally. We have no reason to believe, however, that such committees are not following the guidance set out in the April 1985 circular.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the statutory authority for the proposals in his recent circular that (a) specify that joint liaison committees should be established and in what circumstances, (b) specify the overall role and functions that should be given to the joint liaison committees, (c) specify the membership of joint liaison committees, (d) specify the methods of operation of joint liaison committees, including the publishing of committee papers and the holding of meetings open to the public and (e) require that reports on the work of joint liaison committees be submitted to the Scottish Office at regular intervals to facilitate the monitoring of progress.
§ Mr. John MacKaySection 13 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 imposes a statutory responsibility on health boards and local authorities to co-operate with one another in order to secure and advance the health of the people of Scotland. The proposals in the 1985 circular give administrative guidance to the bodies concerned as to how such co-operation should operate in the areas of joint planning and support finance.