§ Baroness Masham of Iltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What happens if a primary care trust declines to join a commissioning consortium as recommended 70WA in the recent guidelines on specialized commissioning; and [HL2788]
Whether the decisions of a commissioning consortium for specialised services will be binding on a primary care trust which declines to join the consortium. [HL2789]
§ Baroness Andrews:The remit, powers and rules of engagement of collaborative specialised services commissioning groups are agreed by the member primary care trusts and the decisions of these groups are binding on all members. Strategic health authorities performance manage such arrangements and ensure all PCTs belong to an appropriate collaborative commissioning group.
It is up to the collaborative commissioning group to decide whether to set up service—specific consortia and what form these will take.