National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973

7 Functions of authorities

(1) The Secretary of State may direct a Regional Health Authority, an Area Health Authority of which the area is in Wales or a special health authority to exercise on his behalf such of his functions relating to the health service as are specified in the directions (including any of his functions under enactments relating to mental health and nursing homes but excluding the duty imposed on him by section 1(1) of the principal Act to secure the effective provision of the services mentioned in subsection (3) of this section); and subject to the following subsection it shall be the duty of the body in question to comply with the directions.

(2) A Regional Health Authority may direct any Area Health Authority of which the area is included in its region to exercise such of the functions exercisable by the Regional Health Authority by virtue of the preceding subsection as are specified in the directions and it shall be the duty of the Area Health Authority to comply with the directions ; but if the Secretary of State directs a Regional Health Authority to secure that any of those functions specified in his directions are or are not exercisable by an Area Health Authority it shall be the duty of the Regional Health Authority to comply with his directions.

(3) It shall be the duty of each Family Practitioner Committee in accordance with regulations—

(a) to administer, on behalf of the Area Health Authority by which the Committee was established, the arrangements made in pursuance of the Health Service Acts for the provision of general medical services, general dental services, general ophthalmic services and pharmaceutical services for the area of the Authority; and

(b) to perform such other functions relating to those services as may be prescribed ;

and if it appears to the Secretary of State that, in consequence of regulations made by virtue of the preceding provisions of this subsection, references to an Area Health Authority in particular provisions of the Health Service Acts should be construed as references to a Family Practitioner Committee, he may by regulations provide accordingly.

(4) Regulations may provide for functions exercisable by virtue of the preceding provisions of this section by a body other than an Area Health Authority, or exercisable by virtue of any provisions of the Health Service Acts by an Area Health Authority, to be exercisable on behalf of the body in question—

(a) by an equivalent body or by another body of which the members consist only of the body and equivalent bodies;

(b) by a committee, sub-committee or officer of the body or an equivalent body or such another body as aforesaid ;

(c) in the case of functions exercisable by an Area Health Authority, by a special health authority, an officer of such an authority or a Family Practitioner Committee ;

(d) in the case of functions exercisable by a Family Practitioner Committee, by a special health authority, an officer of such an authority or an officer of an Area Health Authority;

and for the purposes of this subsection a Regional or Area Health Authority or a Family Practitioner Committee is equivalent to another body of the same name and a special health authority is equivalent to another such authority; but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as precluding any body from acting by an agent where it is entitled so to act apart from this subsection.

(5) The Secretary of State may give directions with respect to the exercise of any functions exercisable by any body by virtue of the preceding provisions of this section or by an Area Health Authority by virtue of Part IV of the principal Act; and subject to any directions given by the Secretary of State by virtue of this subsection—

(a) a Regional Health Authority may give directions with respect to the exercise, by an Area Health Authority of which the area is included in its region, of any functions exercisable by the Area Health Authority by virtue of subsection (2) of this section ;

(b) an Area Health Authority may give directions with respect to the exercise by the Family Practitioner Committee established by it of any functions which are exercisable by the Committee by virtue of subsection (3) of this section and are prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph;

and it shall be the duty of the body in question to comply with the directions.

(6) Any directions given by the Secretary of State in pursuance of this section shall be given either by regulations or by an instrument in writing except that any such directions in respect of functions conferred on the Secretary of State by section 9(1) or (2) of this Act and any such directions in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section in respect of functions relating to special hospitals shall only be given by regulations, and any directions given by an Authority in pursuance of this section shall be given by an instrument in writing.

(7) Directions given and regulations made in pursuance of this section in respect of a function—

(a) shall not, except in prescribed cases, preclude a body or person by whom the function is exercisable apart from the directions or regulations from exercising the function; and

(b) may in the case of directions given by an instrument in writing be varied or revoked by subsequent directions given in pursuance of this section (without prejudice to the operation of section 32(3) of the [1889 c. 63.] Interpretation Act 1889 in the case of directions given by regulations) ;

so however that an Area Health Authority shall not be entitled to exercise any function which by virtue of subsection (3) of this section is exercisable by the Family Practitioner Committee established by the Authority.