258.—(1) The National Health Service Act 2006 is amended as follows.
(2) In section 223(4) (powers of Secretary of State in connection with public-private partnerships: meaning of “company”), for “within the meaning of the Companies Act 1985” substitute “ as defined in section 1(1) of the Companies Act 2006 ”.
(3) In paragraph 23 of Schedule 7 (public benefit corporations: appointment of auditor)—
(a)for sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) substitute—
“(3) An auditor may be—
(a)an officer of the Audit Commission (if appointed by the board with the agreement of the Commission),
(b)an individual who is not an officer of the Audit Commission, or
(c)a firm.
(4) A person appointed as auditor must be—
(a)eligible for appointment as a statutory auditor (see Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006),
(b)a member of one or more of the bodies listed in section 3(7)(a) to (e) of the Audit Commission Act 1998, or
(c)a member of any other body of accountants approved by the regulator for the purposes of this paragraph.”,
(b)for sub-paragraph (7) substitute—
“(7) In this paragraph—
“the Audit Commission” means the Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service in England; and
“firm” has the same meaning as in the Audit Commission Act 1998 (see section 53(1) of that Act).”.