157.Section 65 amends section 85B of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 to permit local authorities and integration joint boards to participate in the scheme established under that section for the purposes of meeting losses and liabilities incurred in the exercise of relevant functions.
158.Subsection (3) inserts references into the 1978 Act, which have the effect of restricting the functions of local authorities that can be covered by a scheme made under section 85B of the 1978 Act. It restricts the functions to integration functions and to functions that a local authority carries out in accordance with a direction from an integration joint board. The Scottish Ministers are given the power to specify by order other functions of local authorities that can be covered by a scheme under section 85B of the 1978 Act. “Integration functions” are defined for the purposes of this section in relation to local authorities as functions which are delegated to the authority under an integration scheme; to be carried out in conjunction with delegated functions; or to be carried out by the local authority in pursuance of a direction by a Health Board or integration joint board under section 26.
159.Subsection (4) amends the existing power in the 1978 Act so that the Scottish Ministers are not able to direct local authorities to participate in a scheme made under section 85B of the 1978 Act.