Section 7 - Approval of integration scheme
22.This section requires a local authority and Health Board to jointly submit the integration scheme to the Scottish Ministers for approval, before a date that will be set by the Scottish Ministers in regulations.
23.Subsection (3) applies where a scheme is submitted but is not approved. It requires the Scottish Ministers to (a) provide the Health Board and the local authority with the reasons for the refusal to approve the scheme, (b) explain how the scheme should be modified and (c) set a date by which the modified scheme must be submitted for approval.
24.Subsection (4) makes provision for the approval of a modified integration scheme, and subsection (5) provides that, where the Scottish Ministers refuse to approve a modified scheme, the local authority and the Health Board will be treated as if they have failed to submit an integration scheme. The default powers of the Scottish Ministers in section 51 will then apply.
25.Subsection (6) gives the Scottish Ministers a discretionary power to grant an extension for submission of an integration scheme for approval. The Scottish Ministers may grant an extension on their own initiative or on the request of the local authority and the Health Board. Where the request comes from the local authority and the Health Board it must be made jointly and reasons for the request must be given. The effect is to enable a scheme to be accepted after the statutory deadline for submission, where there is good reason.