Commentary on Sections Part 5 – Public involvement and local government Local Healthwatch organisations Section 187 – Annual reports
1155.This section amends section 227 of the 2007 Act. The effect is that Local Healthwatch organisations are to be required to produce an annual report for each financial year. This includes a requirement for the report to be prepared by 30 June following the end of each financial year and copies of it to be made publicly available. Arrangements made by local authorities under section 221 must also have a requirement for the person preparing the report, in deciding the manner in which it is appropriate for the report to be made publicly available, to have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State. The report must be required to set out the amounts spent by the Local Healthwatch organisation and its Local Healthwatch contractors and what those amounts were spent on.
1156.Subsection (5) amends section 227(4) of the 2007 Act to ensure that arrangements made by local authorities under section 221 must require copies of the annual reports to be sent to the NHS Commissioning Board, relevant CCGs and Healthwatch England in addition to the categories of persons to whom such reports were previously required to be sent. Under the amendments made by subsection (5), those categories no longer include the Secretary of State.