The Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1994

Certain functions of Health and Social Services Boards to be exercisable on their behalf by HSS trusts

3.—(1) A Health and Social Services Board may, with the approval of the Department, by instrument in writing under seal provide for such relevant functions of the Board as are specified to be exercisable, in relation to the operational area of a specified HSS trust, by that HSS trust on behalf of the Board.

(2) In this Article and Article 4—

“authorisation” means an instrument executed under paragraph (1);

“relevant functions”, in relation to a Health and Social Services Board, means functions of the Board under any statutory provision prescribed for the purposes of this Article by regulations made by the Department subject to negative resolution;

“specified” means specified in the authorisation;

“the 1991 Order” means the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(1);

and references in those Articles to functions of a Health and Social Services Board include references to functions exercisable by a Board on behalf of the Department.

(3) Section 17(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(2) applies to an authorisation as if it were a statutory instrument; and references in this Article and Article 4 to an authorisation include references to an amendment or revocation of an authorisation.

(4) An authorisation shall come into operation on such date, not being a date earlier than 1st April 1994, as may be specified.

(5) An authorisation may contain such transitional provisions as the Health and Social Services Board thinks fit, including in particular provisions—

(a) for specified acts done by or in relation to the Board or an HSS trust at any time before the authorisation comes into operation to have effect after that time for specified purposes as if done by or in relation to the other of those two bodies;

(b) for any reference to the Board or an HSS trust in any statutory provision, statutory document (within the meaning of section 1(e) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954) or order or direction of a court to have effect for specified purposes as a reference to the other of those two bodies;

and any such transitional provisions shall for such purposes have effect in relation to such acts, statutory provisions, statutory documents, orders or directions.

(6) Without prejudice to the operation of Article 17 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(3), the Department—

(a) may direct a Health and Social Services Board to execute an authorisation in such terms as the Department may direct;

(b) shall give directions to a Health and Social Services Board as to the notification and publication by the Board of authorisations.

(7) An HSS trust shall, notwithstanding that it is exercising functions on behalf of a Health and Social Services Board by virtue of an authorisation for the time being in operation under this Article, be entitled to enforce any rights acquired and shall be liable in respect of any liabilities incurred (including any liabilities in tort) in the exercise of those functions in all respects as if it were acting as a principal, and all proceedings for the enforcement of such rights or liabilities shall be brought by or against the HSS trust in its own name.

(8) In Article 10(1) of the 1991 Order after the words “HSS trusts),” there shall be inserted the words “to do all or any of the following, namely” and at the end there shall be added

“or

(c) to exercise, on behalf of Health and Social Services Boards, such functions as are so exercisable by virtue of authorisations for the time being in operation under Article 3(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1994.”.

(9) In Schedule 3 to the 1991 Order after paragraph 3 there shall be inserted—

“3A.   An order made in relation to an HSS trust shall, if the trust is to exercise functions on behalf of a Health and Social Services Board by virtue of an authorisation under Article 3(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, specify the operational area of the trust, that is to say, the area in relation to which those functions are to be exercisable.”.

(10) References in any other statutory provision to functions of an HSS trust include references to functions exercisable by an HSS trust on behalf of a Health and Social Services Board by virtue of an authorisation.

(11) The Department may by regulations make such amendments to any statutory provision (including those mentioned in Schedule 1) as appear to the Department to be necessary or expedient to facilitate, or to be otherwise consequential on, the exercise by HSS trusts of relevant functions of Health and Social Services Boards by virtue of authorisations executed under this Article.

(12) Regulations under paragraph (11) which amend only statutory instruments shall be subject to negative resolution and all other regulations under that paragraph shall be subject to affirmative resolution.

(1)

1991 NI 1

(2)

1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

(3)

1972 NI 14