APPENDIX II
Memorandum by the Department
of Health
SHROPSHIRE'S
COMMUNITY AND
MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES NATIONAL
HEALTH SERVICE
TRUST (ESTABLISHMENT)
ORDER 1998 (S.I. 1998/500)
1. By a letter from its Clerk
dated 1st April 1998 the Committee has requested the Department
to submit a Memorandum on the following point -
Article 1(2) fixes
for the trust an "establishment date" of 1st April 1998,
and article 5(1) an "operational date" which is the
same. Having regard to the provisions of articles 6 and 7, which
cannot have any application unless the operational date follows
the establishment date, should not article 5(1) have provided
for the operational date to fall on a date later than 1st April
1998?
Establishment and Operational
Date
2. The Committee is correct
in saying that the establishment date of the trust in this case
should have been earlier than the operational date, given the
provisions of articles 6 and 7. The proofs of this Order were
returned to the Department's Parliamentary Branch on 23rd February
1998, and blanks were left for the coming into force date and
the establishment date (the same date) to be filled in. The operational
date was set as 1st April 1998, in common with all newly established
NHS trusts this year. Unfortunately, it was not communicated to
Parliamentary Branch that the coming into force and establishment
dates should be earlier than the operational date (i.e. some time
in February) and 1st April was filled in as the establishment
date.
3. The Department accepts
that this rendered the provisions of articles 6 and 7 redundant,
but considers that this has not had any practical effect, as the
provisions would simply have failed to be invoked. Nonetheless,
the Department regrets what has happened, and undertakes to ensure
that this point is communicated to its Parliamentary Branch in
future.
6th April 1998
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