National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990

Funding, audit and liabilitiesE+W

F119. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E+W

20 Extension of functions etc. of Audit Commission to cover the health service.E+W

(1)Part III of the M1Local Government Finance Act 1982 (the Audit Commission for Local Authorities in England and Wales—in this section referred to as “the Commission”) shall have effect subject to the amendments in Schedule 4 to this Act, being amendments—

(a)to extend the functions of the Commission to cover [F2Health Authorities, Special Health Authorities] and other bodies established under this Act or the principal Act;

(b)to alter the title and constitution of the Commission to reflect its wider role; and

(c)to make provision consequential on or supplemental to the amendments referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

(2)In section 98 of the principal Act (accounts and audit),—

(a)in subsection (1), in the words following paragraph (e) for the words from “appointed” to “Comptroller” there shall be substituted “appointed by the Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service in England and Wales and the Comptroller”;

(b)after subsection (2A) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(2B)So far as relates to allotted sums paid to the members of a fund-holding practice—

(a)accounts shall be kept in such form as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury direct;

(b)the Comptroller and Auditor General may examine the accounts and the records relating to them and any report of the auditor on them;

(c)in respect of each financial year, annual accounts in such form as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury direct shall be prepared and submitted to the relevant Family Health Services Authority; and

(d)in respect of each financial year, each Family Health Services Authority shall prepare, in such form as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury direct, and include in its own accounts, a summarised version of the accounts submitted to the Authority under paragraph (c) above.”;

F3(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F3(d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3)If the person who is for the time being the auditor, within the meaning of Part III of the M2Local Government Finance Act 1982, in relation to the accounts of a health service body, within the meaning of that Part, has reason to believe that the body, or any officer of the body,—

(a)is about to make, or has made, a decision which involves or would involve the incurring of expenditure which is unlawful, or

(b)is about to take, or has taken, a course of action which, if pursued to its conclusion, would be unlawful and likely to cause a loss or deficiency,

he shall refer the matter forthwith to the Secretary of State.

(4)It shall be the duty of the Commission to make, by such date as the Secretary of State may determine, an offer of employment by the Commission to each person employed in the civil service of the State in connection with the audit of the accounts of any of the bodies specified in section 98(1) of the principal Act whose name is notified to the Commission by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection; and the terms of the offer must be such that they are, taken as a whole, not less favourable to the person to whom the offer is made than the terms on which he is employed on the date on which the offer is made.

(5)An offer made in pursuance of subsection (4) above shall not be revocable during the period of three months beginning with the date on which it is made.

(6)Where a person becomes an officer or servant of the Commission in consequence of subsection (4) above, then, for the purposes of [F4the Employment Rights Act 1996], his period of employment in the civil service of the State shall count as a period of employment by the Commission and the change of employment shall not break the continuity of the period of employment.

(7)Where a person ceases to be employed as mentioned in subsection (4) above—

(a)on becoming an officer or servant of the Commission in consequence of an offer made in pursuance of that subsection, or

(b)having unreasonably refused such an offer,

he shall not, on ceasing to be so employed, be treated for the purposes of any scheme under section 1 of the M3Superannuation Act 1972 as having been retired on redundancy.

(8)Without prejudice to any express amendment made by this Act, on and after the day appointed for the coming into force of this subsection, any reference in any enactment (including an enactment comprised in subordinate legislation) to the Audit Commission for Local Authorities in England and Wales shall be construed as a reference to the Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service in England and Wales.

21 Schemes for meeting losses and liabilities etc. of certain health service bodies.E+W

(1)The Secretary of State may by regulations made with the consent of the Treasury establish a scheme whereby any of the bodies specified in subsection (2) below may make provision to meet—

(a)expenses arising from any loss of or damage to their property; and

(b)liabilities to third parties for loss, damage or injury arising out of the carrying out of the functions of the bodies concerned.

(2)The bodies referred to in subsection (1) above are—

[F5(a)Health Authorities;

(aa)Special Health Authorities;]

(b)NHS trusts; and

(c)the Public Health Laboratory Service Board;

but a scheme under this section may limit the class or description of bodies which are eligible to participate in it.

(3)Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by subsection (1) above, a scheme under this section may—

(a)provide for the scheme to be administered by the Secretary of State or by a [F6Health Authority, Special Health Authority] or NHS trust specified in the scheme;

(b)require any body which participates in the scheme to make payments in accordance with the scheme; and

(c)provide for the making of payments for the purposes of the scheme by the Secretary of State.

(4)Without prejudice to any other power of direction conferred on the Secretary of State,—

(a)if the Secretary of State so directs, a body which is eligible to participate in a scheme shall do so; and

(b)where a scheme provides for it to be administered by the Secretary of State, a [F6Health Authority, Special Health Authority] or NHS trust shall carry out such functions in connection with the administration of the scheme by the Secretary of State as he may direct.

(5)Neither the Secretary of State nor any [F6Health Authority, Special Health Authority] or NHS trust administering a scheme under this section shall, by virtue of their activities under the scheme, be regarded as carrying on insurance business for the purposes of the M4Insurance Companies Act 1982.