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'(1) The Secretary of State shall establish a body to be known as a Foundation Patients' Forum—
(a) for each NHS Trust which has made an application under section 4(2);
(b) for each person who has been incorporated as a public benefit corporation under section 5(5).
(2) The members of the Foundation Patients' Forum are to be appointed by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.
(3) Once the Foundation Patients' Forum has been established, it may do anything (including the things mentioned in subsection (4) below) which appears to it to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of preparing for effective patient and public involvement in the NHS Trust or public benefit corporation once it becomes a Foundation Trust.
(4) A Foundation Patients' Forum must—
(a) monitor and review the range and operation of services provided by, or under arrangements made by, the trust for which it is established,
(b) obtain the views of patients' and their carers about those matters and report on those views to the trust,
(c) provide advice, and make reports and recommendations, about matters relating to the range and operation of those services to the trust,
(d) make available to patients and their carers advice and information about those services,
(e) in prescribed circumstances, perform any prescribed function of the trust with respect to the provision of a service affording assistance to patients and their families and carers,
(f) carry out such other functions as may be prescribed.
(5) In providing advice or making recommendations under subsection (4)(c), a Foundation Patients' Forum must have regard to the views of patients and their carers.
(6) If, in the course of exercising its functions, a Foundation Patients' Forum becomes aware of any matter which in its view—
(a) should be considered by a relevant overview and scrutiny committee, the Forum may refer that matter to the committee,
(b) should be brought to the attention of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, it may refer that matter to the Commission.
(7) Subsection (6) does not prejudice the power of a Foundation Patients' Forum to make such other representations or referrals as it thinks fit, to such persons or bodies as it thinks fit about matters arising in the course of its exercising its functions.
(8) An NHS Trust or public benefit corporation exercising its powers under sections 4(4)(b) or 5(7)(b) as the case may be shall be obliged to have regard to and take account of the reports and recommendations of the Foundation Patients' Forum.
(9) The governors and non-executive directors of the Foundation Trust shall be obliged to respond in writing to the reports and recommendations of the Foundation Patients' Forum.
(10) All the members, governors and directors of a Foundation Trust shall be obliged to have regard to and take account of the reports and recommendations of the Foundation Patients' Forum in exercising their functions within the Foundation Trust.
(11) The terms in this section shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of section 15(8) and (9) of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 (c.17).'.
New clause 18—Community Health Councils and NHS foundation trusts in Wales—
'(1) Schedule 7A of the 1977 Act is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph 2 (general provisions)—
(a) in subparagraph (f), for "and NHS trusts" there is substituted ", NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts";
(b) in subparagraph (g), for "and NHS trusts" there is substituted ", NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts";
(c) in subparagraph (j), for "and NHS trusts" there is substituted ", NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts";
(d) in subparagraph (k), for "or NHS trusts" there is substituted ", NHS trusts or NHS foundation trusts".
(3) In paragraph 3 (entry and inspection of premises), in subparagraph (1), after sub-subparagraph (f) there is inserted—
"(fa) NHS foundation trusts;".
New clause 19—NHS community trusts—
'(1) An NHS community trust is a public benefit organisation which is authorised to commission goods and services for the purposes of the health service in England.
(2) A public benefit organisation is a body corporate which, in pursuance of an application, is constituted in accordance with Schedule [constitution of public benefit organisations].'.
New clause 20—Applications by Primary Care Trusts—
'(1) A Primary Care Trust may make an application to the regulator for authorisation to become an NHS community trust if the application is supported by the Secretary of State.
(2) The application must—
(a) describe the goods and services which the applicants propose should be commissioned by the NHS community trust,
(b) describe the goods and services which the applicants propose should be provided by the NHS community trust, and
(c) be accompanied by a copy of the proposed constitution of the trust;
and must give any further information which the regulator requires the Primary Care Trust to give.
(3) The applicant may modify the application with the agreement of the regulator at any time before authorisation is given under section [authorisation of NHS community trusts].
(4) Once a Primary Care Trust has made the application—
(a) the provisions of the proposed constitution which give effect to paragraphs 3 to 16 of Schedule [constitution of public benefit organisations] have effect, but only for the purpose of electing a shadow board of governors and appointing a shadow board of directors,
(b) the Primary Care Trust may do anything (including the things mentioned in paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c.19) (general powers)) which appears to it to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of preparing it for NHS community trust status.'.
New clause 21—Authorisation of NHS community trusts—
'(1) The regulator may give an authorisation under this section to a Primary Care Trust which has applied under section [applications by Primary Care Trusts] if he is satisfied as to the matters specified in subsection (2).
(2) The matters are that—
(a) the applicant's constitution will be in accordance with Schedule [constitution of public benefit organisations] and will otherwise be appropriate,
(b) there will be a board of governors, and a board of directors, constituted in accordance with the constitution,
(c) the steps necessary to prepare for NHS community trust status have been taken,
(d) the applicant will be able to commission or the goods and services or to provide the goods and services which the authorisation is to require it to commission or to provide, and
(e) any other requirements which he considers appropriate are met.
(3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), the authorisation may be given on any terms the regulator considers appropriate.
(4) An authorisation must authorise the NHS community trust to commission goods and services for the purposes of the health service in England.
(5) If regulations require the applicant to consult prescribed persons about the application, the regulator may not give an authorisation unless he is satisfied that the applicant has complied with the regulations.'.
New clause 24—Representative membership—
'An authorisation may require an NHS foundation trust to take steps to secure that (taken as a whole) the actual membership of its public constituency is representative of those eligible for such membership.'.
New clause 34—Extension of provisions of Part 1 following pilot tests—
'(1) Within three months of the conclusion of the pilot test period—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the regulator,
(c) the CHAI, and
(d) the Comptroller and Auditor General
shall lay before each House of Parliament a report on the operation of the provisions of Part 1 of this Act during the pilot test period.
(2) After all of the reports under subsection (1) have been laid before Parliament, the Secretary of State may by order—
(a) amend the provisions of Part 1 so as to extend the application to other NHS trusts and Primary Care Trusts, and
(b) make such other amendments of Part 1 as arise from the reports.
(3) No order may be made under subsection (2) unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.'.
New clause 39—Public consultation relating to applications for foundation status—
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