Urgent Debates Declined — Capital and Coast District Health Board—Governance Changes

I have received a letter from the Hon Tony Ryall seeking to debate under Standing Order 380 the Government’s announcement of governance changes at Capital and Coast District Health Board. I have also received a similar application from Heather Roy. This is a particular case of recent occurrence involving ministerial responsibility. However, not every announcement by the Government can give grounds for a debate. There must be an element of urgency whereby the matter must take precedence over other business. The announcement was made on 13 December 2007 by the Minister of Health, and the Leader of the House informed the House of this by way of a ministerial statement. Both Mr Ryall and Ms Roy took the opportunity to debate that matter in the House at the time.

The Minister has made governance changes, but the board is still in place. The board has been given further time to work through the issues. Those issues can be considered by the House in a number of ways, in particular through the financial review process. The financial review is currently before the Health Committee, and when the committee reports back, the issues may be considered by the House in the financial review debate. Both applications are therefore declined.