6(1)Subject to paragraph 7 below, a Family Practitioner Committee shall consist of thirty members of whom—
(a)eleven shall be appointed by the Area Health Authority responsible for establishing the Committee and at least one of them must be, but not every one of them shall be, a member of the Authority ;
(b)four shall be appointed by the local authority entitled in pursuance of paragraph 2(1)(d) above to appoint members of that Authority or, where two or more local authorities are so entitled, by those authorities acting jointly;
(c)eight shall be appointed by the Local Medical Committee for the area of that Authority and one of them must be, and not more than one shall be, a medical practitioner having the qualifications prescribed in pursuance of section 41 of the principal Act (which relates to ophthalmic services);
(d)three shall be appointed by the Local Dental Committee for that area ;
(e)two shall be appointed by the Local Pharmaceutical Committee for that area;
(f)one shall be an ophthalmic optician appointed by such members of the Local Optical Committee for that area as are ophthalmic opticians ; and
(g)one shall be a dispensing optician appointed by such members of the said Local Optical Committee as are dispensing opticians;
and the members of a Family Practitioner Committee shall from time to time, in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed, select one of their members to be the chairman of the Committee.
(2)If any appointment falling to be made in pursuance of the preceding sub-paragraph by or by certain members of a Local Committee is not made before such date as the Area Health Authority in question may determine for that appointment, the appointment shall be made by that Authority to the exclusion of the Committee or members in question.
(3)The members of a Local Committee who are mentioned in paragraphs (f) and (g) of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph may if they think fit appoint, in addition to the member of a Family Practitioner Committee appointed by them, an ophthalmic or, as the case may be, a dispensing optician to be the deputy of the member so appointed, and the Local Committee by which such a practitioner as is mentioned in paragraph (c) of the said sub-paragraph (1) is appointed in pursuance of that paragraph as a member of a Family Practitioner Committee may if it thinks fit appoint another such practitioner to be his deputy; and a deputy appointed in pursuance of this sub-paragraph may, while the member for whom he is the deputy is absent from any meeting of the relevant Family Practitioner Committee, act as a member of that Committee in the place of the absent member.
(4)If an Area Health Authority proposes to make before the appointed day an appointment in pursuance of paragraph (a) of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, it shall be the duty of the Authority before it makes the appointment to consult such Executive Councils exercising functions in its area as the Authority considers appropriate.
7(1)If it appears to the Secretary of State that, by reason of special circumstances affecting the area of an Area Health Authority, it is appropriate that the Family Practitioner Committee established or to be established by the Authority should not be in accordance with the preceding paragraph, he may by order provide that that paragraph shall apply in relation to the Committee with such modifications as are specified in the order.
(2)It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State—
(a)before he makes an order in pursuance of the preceding sub-paragraph in respect of a Family Practitioner Committee which is already established to consult the Committee with respect to the order ; and
(b)in making any such order to have regard to the desirability of maintaining, so far as practicable, the same numerical proportion as between members falling to be appointed by different bodies in pursuance of the preceding paragraph apart from any modification.