MPs have called on ministers to hand commissioning powers of local primary care trusts to councillors. Members of the Commons communities and local government select committee called for the change to ensure the way local health bodies operated was in line with the will of local voters. At a committee hearing on 18 November, Clive Betts MP, a Labour backbencher, and Conservative Sir Paul Beresford, lambasted health minister, Anne Keen, for the Government's failure to inject local accountability into PCT decision-making. Despite ministerial promises to devolve new powers to local communities – including proposals to elect members of local police authorities – PCT officials are still not elected. Similarly, regional SHA officials who oversee PCTs are also appointed. Mr Betts said: ‘With the exception of the CLG, which seems committed to some form of devolution, it seems to be the case that other Whitehall departments merely pay lip service to it. The Department of Health is particularly centrist – the minister is the first level of accountability for local health decisions.' Ms Keen denied the allegation, claiming council overview and scrutiny committees had the power to call PCT officials to account, and employment law ensured PCT executives were accountable for their actions. Local government think-tanks backed Mr Betts. A memorandum to the committee provided by the Local Government Information Unit calls for ‘a new model of accountability with local authorities'.
