166Partnership arrangements
(1)Regulations may require specified partnership arrangements to be made by—
(a)two or more local authorities, or
(b)one or more local authorities and one or more Local Health Boards.
(2)Partnership arrangements are arrangements for carrying out—
(a)functions of a local authority specified in regulations which—
(i)are social services functions, or
(ii)in the opinion of the Welsh Ministers, have an effect on, or are affected by, a local authority’s social services functions, or
(b)functions specified in regulations of—
(i)a Local Health Board, or
(ii)an NHS trust.
(3)Regulations under subsection (1) must make provision—
(a)specifying the local authorities and Local Health Boards that are to take part in partnership arrangements;
(b)about the form that partnership arrangements are to take;
(c)about the responsibility for, and the operation and management of, partnership arrangements;
(d)for sharing information between the following—
(i)local authorities;
(ii)Local Health Boards;
(iii)any teams or persons carrying out partnership arrangements in accordance with regulations made by virtue of subsection (4)(b);
(iv)any partnership boards established under regulations under section 168.
(4)Regulations under subsection (1) may make provision—
(a)for a local authority or a Local Health Board to carry out any of the functions specified for the purposes of subsection (2) for the purposes of partnership arrangements;
(b)for the establishment of teams or for the appointment of persons to carry out partnership arrangements and for assigning to those teams or persons any of the functions specified for the purposes of subsection (2);
(c)specifying the persons or categories of persons for whose benefit partnership arrangements are to be carried out;
(d)for the referral of persons to services provided in accordance with partnership arrangements.
(5)The provision that may be made under subsection (3)(c) includes, for example, provision—
(a)requiring partnership arrangements to be carried out under the direction of a partnership board established under regulations under section 168;
(b)about the review of cases referred in accordance with partnership arrangements;
(c)about complaints and disputes about the exercise of functions in accordance with partnership arrangements;
(d)about the provision of information about partnership arrangements;
(e)about accounts and audit in respect of functions carried out in accordance with partnership arrangements.
(6)Partnership arrangements made under regulations under this section do not affect—
(a)the liability of a Local Health Board for the exercise of any of its functions,
(b)the liability of a local authority for the exercise of any of its functions, or
(c)any power or duty to recover charges in respect of services provided in the exercise of any local authority functions.