On the duty to co-operate, I repeat what I said earlier. There is a good symmetry between the proposals in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill regarding co-operation between local partners and the process undertaken through the call for action and other measures, particularly the performance regime and the duty to co-operate in setting those targets. There is a parallel between that and the responsibilities of the selector and the Secretary of State, bearing it in mind that, in legalese, when we refer to the Secretary of State, we refer to the Government collectively—to Secretaries of State. That is an important point, although it is probably more important from my point of view than that of the hon. Gentleman.

I accept the point about co-operation, and I have clarified the definition of “co-operation”. Ultimately, in lay persons’ terms, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. However, we are creating a statutory framework whereby the process locks in the partnership between the selector and the Secretary of State and builds on the existing informal, voluntary mechanisms of the central-local partnership. I look forward to the discussions with Lord Bruce-Lockhart and his colleagues at the LGA, should they be willing, as I expect they will, to engage in this process. I hope that that gives the hon. Gentleman some satisfaction.