National Health Service Bill [HL]

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
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Other Bills before Parliament

National Health Service Bill [HL]

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 20 — Further provision about local social services authorities
248

Schedule 19
Section 250

Further provision about standing advisory committees
1
Regulations may make provision with respect to—
(a)
the appointment,
(b)
the tenure of office, and
5
(c)
the vacation of office,

of the members of any standing advisory committee.
2
The Secretary of State must appoint a secretary to each standing advisory
committee.
3
Each standing advisory committee may appoint such sub-committees as it
10
considers appropriate, and as are approved by the Secretary of State, to
consider and report on questions referred to it by the standing advisory
committee.
4
Any such sub-committee may include persons who are not members of the
standing advisory committee.
15
5
Each standing advisory committee must elect one of the members of the
committee to be chairman of the committee.
6
Each standing advisory committee has power to regulate its own procedure.
7
The proceedings of a standing advisory committee are not invalidated by
any vacancy in the membership of the committee, or by any defect in a
20
member’s appointment or qualification.
8
The Secretary of State may make such payments in respect of expenses
incurred by a standing advisory committee as he may determine.
9
The Secretary of State may pay to the members of a standing advisory
committee, or a sub-committee of a standing advisory committee, such
25
travelling and other allowances, including compensation for loss of
remunerative time, as he may determine.
10
Payments under this Schedule are subject to such conditions as to records,
certificates, or otherwise as the Secretary of State may determine.
Schedule 20
30
Section 254

Further provision about local social services authorities
Care of mothers and young children
1
A local social services authority may, with the Secretary of State’s approval,
and to such extent as he may direct must, make arrangements for the care of
pregnant women and women who are breast feeding (other than for the
35
provision of residential accommodation for them).

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 20 — Further provision about local social services authorities
249

Prevention, care and after-care
2     (1)
A local social services authority may, with the Secretary of State’s approval,
and to such extent as he may direct must, make the arrangements mentioned
in sub-paragraph (2).
      (2)
The arrangements are for the purpose of the prevention of illness, for the
5
care of persons suffering from illness and for the after-care of persons who
have been suffering from illness and in particular for—
(a)
the provision, for persons whose care is undertaken with a view to
preventing them from becoming ill, persons suffering from illness
and persons who have been suffering from illness, of centres or other
10
facilities for training them or keeping them suitably occupied and the
equipment and maintenance of such centres,
(b)
the provision, for the benefit of such persons as are mentioned in
paragraph (a), of ancillary or supplemental services, and
(c)
the exercise of the functions of the local social services authority in
15
respect of persons suffering from mental disorder who are received
into guardianship under Part 2 or 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983
(c. 20) (whether the guardianship of the authority or of other
persons).
      (3)
A local social services authority may not, and is not under a duty to, make
20
under this paragraph arrangements to provide facilities for any of the
purposes mentioned in section 15(1) of the Disabled Persons (Employment)
Act 1944 (c. 10).
      (4)
No arrangements under this paragraph may provide for the payment of
money to persons for whose benefit they are made, except in so far as they
25
fall within sub-paragraph (5).
      (5)
Arrangements fall within this sub-paragraph if—
(a)
they provide for the remuneration of such persons engaged in
suitable work in accordance with the arrangements of such amounts
as the local social services authority considers appropriate in respect
30
of their occasional personal expenses, and
(b)
it appears to the authority that no such payment would otherwise be
made.
      (6)
No arrangements under this paragraph may be given effect to in relation to
a person to whom section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
35
(c. 33) (exclusion from benefits) applies solely—
(a)
because he is destitute, or
(b)
because of the physical effects, or anticipated physical effects, of
his being destitute.
      (7)
Section 95(2) to (7) of that Act apply for the purposes of sub-paragraph (6);
40
and for that purpose a reference to the Secretary of State in section 95(4) or
(5) is a reference to a local social services authority.
      (8)
The Secretary of State may make regulations as to the conduct of premises in
which facilities are provided in pursuance of arrangements made under this
paragraph for persons—
45
(a)
who are or have been suffering from mental disorder within the
meaning of the Mental Health Act 1983, or

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 21 — Prohibition of sale of medical practices
250

(b)
whose care is undertaken with a view to preventing them from
becoming sufferers from mental disorder.
      (9)
“Facilities” means facilities for training such persons or keeping them
suitably occupied.
     (10)
This paragraph does not apply in relation to persons under the age of 18.
5
     (11)
No authority is authorised or may be required under this paragraph to
provide residential accommodation for any person.
Home help and laundry facilities
3     (1)
Each local social services authority—
(a)
must provide or arrange for the provision of, on such a scale as is
10
adequate for the needs of its area, of home help for households
where such help is required owing to the presence of a person to
whom sub-paragraph (2) applies, and
(b)
may provide or arrange for the provision of laundry facilities for
households for which home help is being, or can be, provided under
15
paragraph (a).
      (2)
This sub-paragraph applies to any person who—
(a)
is suffering from illness,
(b)
is pregnant or has recently given birth,
(c)
is aged, or
20
(d)
handicapped as a result of having suffered from illness or by
congenital deformity.
Research
4     (1)
A local social services authority may conduct or assist other persons in
conducting research into matters relating to the functions of local social
25
services authorities under this Schedule.
      (2)
Sub-paragraph (1) does not affect any powers conferred by any other Act.
Schedule 21
Section 259

Prohibition of sale of medical practices
Prohibition, and certificate of the Secretary of State
30
1     (1)
Any person who sells or buys the goodwill of a medical practice which it is
unlawful to sell by virtue of section 259 is guilty of an offence and liable on
conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding—
(a)
such amount as will in the court’s opinion secure that he derives no
benefit from the offence, and
35
(b)
the further amount of £500,

or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both.
      (2)
Any person proposing to be a party to a transaction or series of transactions
which he considers might amount to a sale of the goodwill of a medical

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 21 — Prohibition of sale of medical practices
251

practice in contravention of section 259 may ask the Secretary of State for a
certificate under this paragraph.
      (3)
The Secretary of State must—
(a)
consider any such application, and
(b)
if he is satisfied that the transaction or series of transactions does not
5
involve the giving of valuable consideration in respect of the
goodwill of such a medical practice, issue to the applicant a
certificate to that effect.
      (4)
The certificate must—
(a)
be in the prescribed form, and
10
(b)
set out all material circumstances disclosed to the Secretary of State.
      (5)
Where any person is charged with an offence under this paragraph in
respect of any transaction or series of transactions, it is a defence to prove
that the transaction or series of transactions was certified by the Secretary of
State under sub-paragraph (3).
15
      (6)
Any document purporting to be such a certificate is admissible in evidence
and is deemed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.
      (7)
The court may disregard such a certificate if it appears to the court that the
applicant for the certificate—
(a)
failed to disclose to the Secretary of State all the material
20
circumstances, or
(b)
made any misrepresentation with respect to the material
circumstances.
      (8)
A prosecution for an offence under this paragraph may be instituted only by
or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Secretary
25
of State must, at the request of the Director, furnish him with—
(a)
a copy of any certificate issued by the Secretary of State under sub-
paragraph (3), and
(b)
copies of any documents produced to him in connection with the
application for that certificate.
30
Certain transactions deemed sale of goodwill
2     (1)
For the purposes of section 259 and paragraph 1, a disposal of premises
previously used for the purposes of a medical practice is deemed to be a sale
of the goodwill of a medical practice if—
(a)
the person disposing of the premises did so knowing that another
35
person (“A”) intended to use them for the purposes of A’s medical
practice, and
(b)
the consideration for the disposal substantially exceeded the
consideration that might reasonably have been expected if the
premises had not previously been used for the purposes of a medical
40
practice.
      (2)
If a person disposes of any premises together with any other property, the
court must, for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), make such
apportionment of the consideration as it considers just.
      (3)
For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2)—
45

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 21 — Prohibition of sale of medical practices
252

(a)
“disposal” means any sale, letting or other form of disposal
(whether by a single transaction or a series of transactions) and
“disposes” and “disposing” must be read accordingly, and
(b)
a person who procures the disposal of any premises must be treated
as having disposed of them.
5
      (4)
Where in pursuance of any partnership agreement—
(a)
any valuable consideration, other than the performance of services
in the partnership business, is given by a partner or proposed partner
as consideration for his being taken into partnership,
(b)
any valuable consideration is given to a partner, on or in
10
contemplation of his retirement or of his acceptance of a reduced
share of the partnership profits, or to the personal representative of
a partner on his death, not being a payment in respect of that
partner’s share in past earnings of the partnership or in any
partnership assets or any other payment required to be made to him
15
as the result of the final settlement of accounts, as between him and
the other partners, in respect of past transactions of the partnership,
or
(c)
services are performed by any partner for a consideration
substantially less than those services might reasonably have been
20
expected to be worth having regard to the circumstances at the time
when the agreement was made,

there is deemed for the purposes of section 259 and paragraph 1 to have been
a sale of goodwill as specified in sub-paragraph (5).
      (5)
The sale of goodwill is the sale of the goodwill of the practice—
25
(a)
of any partner to whom, or to whose personal representative, the
consideration (or any part of it) is given or for whose benefit the
services are performed,
(b)
to the partner or each of the partners by or on whose behalf the
consideration (or any part of it) was given or to the partner who
30
performed the services.
      (6)
The sale is deemed for the purposes of section 259 and paragraph 1 to have
been effected—
(a)
in a case to which sub-paragraph (4)(a) or (b) applies, at the time
when the consideration was given, or, if the consideration was not all
35
given at the same time, at the time when the first part was given, or
(b)
in a case to which sub-paragraph (4)(c) applies, at the time when the
agreement was made.
      (7)
Sub-paragraph (8) applies if a person (“the assistant”)—
(a)
performs services on behalf of a person who carries on a medical
40
practice (or as an employee of a person employing a practitioner who
carries on a medical practice),
(b)
receives substantially less remuneration for performing those
services than might reasonably have been expected, having regard to
the circumstances at the time when the remuneration was fixed, and
45
(c)
subsequently succeeds, whether as a result of a partnership
agreement or otherwise, to that practice.
      (8)
For the purposes of section 259 and paragraph 1, a sale of the goodwill of the
practice is deemed to have taken place (at the time when the remuneration

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 21 — Prohibition of sale of medical practices
253

was fixed) unless it is proved that the remuneration was not fixed in
contemplation of the assistant’s succeeding to the practice.
      (9)
For the purposes of section 259 and paragraph 1, the goodwill of a medical
practice is deemed to have been sold if sub-paragraph (10) or (11) applies.
     (10)
This sub-paragraph applies where a person carrying on the practice (or
5
employing a practitioner who carries on a medical practice) agrees, for
valuable consideration—
(a)
to do or refrain from doing any act for the purpose of facilitating the
succession of another to the practice, or
(b)
to allow any act to be done for that purpose.
10
     (11)
This sub-paragraph applies where a person—
(a)
gives valuable consideration to a person carrying on the practice (or
employing a practitioner who carries on a medical practice), and
(b)
succeeds, or has previously succeeded, to the practice.
     (12)
Sub-paragraph (9) does not apply if it is proved that no part of the
15
consideration was given in respect of the goodwill.
     (13)
Sub-paragraph (9) does not apply to anything done—
(a)
in relation to the acquisition of premises for the purposes of a
medical practice,
(b)
in pursuance of a partnership agreement, or
20
(c)
in the performance of medical services by one person as an
assistant to another.
Consideration
3     (1)
In determining for the purposes of section 259 and this Schedule the
consideration given in respect of any transaction, the court must—
25
(a)
have regard to any other transaction appearing to the court to be
associated with the first transaction,
(b)
estimate the total consideration given in respect of both or all the
transactions, and
(c)
apportion the total between the transactions in such manner as the
30
court considers just.
      (2)
For the purposes of section 259 and this Schedule consideration is deemed
to be given to a person (“B”) if—
(a)
it is given to another person but with B’s knowledge and consent,
and
35
(b)
it appears to the court that B has derived, or will derive, a
substantial benefit from the giving of the consideration.
Carried-over goodwill
4
The fact that a person’s medical practice was previously carried on by
another person who at any time provided or performed services as specified
40
in section 259 does not, by itself, make it unlawful under section 259 for the
goodwill of his practice to be sold.

National Health Service Bill [HL]
Schedule 22 — Control of maximum prices for medical supplies
254

Interpretation
5
In section 259 and this Schedule, unless the context otherwise requires,
references to a person include, in the case of an individual who has died,
references to his personal representative.
Schedule 22
5
Section 260

Control of maximum prices for medical supplies
Orders and directions
1     (1)
An order under section 260 may make such provision (including provision
for requiring any person to furnish any information) as the Secretary of State
considers necessary or expedient for facilitating the introduction or
10
operation of a scheme of control—
(a)
for which provision has been made under that section, or
(b)
for which, in his opinion, it will or may be necessary or expedient
that provision should be made.
      (2)
An order under section 260—
15
(a)
may prohibit the doing of anything regulated by the order except
under the authority of a licence granted by such authority or person
as may be specified in the order, and
(b)
may be made so as to apply either to persons or undertakings
generally or to any particular person or undertaking or class of
20
persons or undertakings, and so as to have effect either generally or
in any particular area.
Notices, authorisations and proof of documents
2     (1)
A notice to be served on any person for the purposes of section 260, or of any
order or direction made or given under that section, is deemed to have been
25
duly served on the person to whom it is directed if—
(a)
it is delivered to him personally, or
(b)
it is sent by registered post or the recorded delivery service
addressed to him at his last or usual place of abode or place of
business.
30
      (2)
Where under section 260 or this Schedule a person has power to authorise
other persons to act under those provisions, the power may be exercised so
as to confer the authority either on particular persons or on a specified class
of persons.
      (3)
Any permit, licence, permission or authorisation granted for the purposes of
35
section 260 or this Schedule may be revoked at any time by the authority or
person empowered to grant it.
      (4)
A document purporting to be duly executed under or by virtue of section
260 or this Schedule and signed by or on behalf of the person making it must
be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, taken to be so
40
executed and signed.