Health and Social Care Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

143.  After Article 10A insert—

“Certain functions of the Department to be exercisable on its behalf by HSC trusts

10B.— (1) The Department may by direction provide for specified functions of the Department to be exercisable, in relation to the operational area of a specified HSC trust, by that trust on behalf of the Department.

(2) In this Article—

“delegation direction” means a direction under paragraph (1);

“specified” means specified in a delegation direction.

(3) A delegation direction comes into operation on such date as may be specified.

(4) A delegation direction may contain such transitional provisions as the Department thinks appropriate, including in particular provisions—

(a) for specified acts done by or in relation to the Department or an HSC trust at any time before the direction comes into operation to have effect after that time for specified purposes as if done by or in relation to the other of them;

(b) for any reference to the Department or an HSC trust in any statutory provision, statutory document (within the meaning of section 1(e) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954) or order or direction of a court to have effect for specified purposes as a reference to the other of them;

and any such transitional provisions have effect, for those purposes, in relation to such acts, statutory provisions, statutory documents, orders or directions.

(5) An HSC trust is—

(a) entitled to enforce any rights acquired in the exercise of any delegated functions, and

(b) liable in respect of any liabilities incurred (including any liabilities in tort) in the exercise of any delegated functions,

in all respects as if it were acting as a principal; and all proceedings for the enforcement of such rights or liabilities are to be brought by or against the trust in its own name.

(6) In paragraph (5) “delegated functions” means functions exercised by the trust by virtue of a delegation direction.

(7) References in any other statutory provision to functions of an HSC trust include references to functions exercisable by an HSC trust on behalf of the Department by virtue of a delegation direction.

(8) The Department may by regulations make such amendments to any statutory provision as appear to the Department to be necessary or expedient to facilitate, or to be otherwise consequential on, the exercise by HSC trusts of functions of the Department by virtue of delegation directions.”.