Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Wirral and West Cheshire Community National Health Service Trust (Establishment) Order 1997 and shall come into force on 1st April 1997.

(2) In this Order unless the context otherwise requires-

"the Act" means the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990;

"community health services" means any services which the Secretary of State may provide under section 3(1)(d) or (e) of, or Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service Act 1977 and any service which he has a duty to provide under section 5(1) or (1A) of that Act(3);

"operational date" has the meaning assigned to it in paragraph 3(1)(e) of Schedule 2 to the Act;

"the trust" means the Wirral and West Cheshire Community National Health Service Trust established by article 2 of this Order.

Establishment of the trust

2. There is hereby established an NHS trust which shall be called the Wirral and West Cheshire Community National Health Service Trust.

Nature and functions of the trust

3.-(1) The trust is established for the purposes specified in section 5(1)(a) and (b) of the Act.

(2) The trust's functions shall be-

(a)to own and manage hospital accommodation and services provided at Victoria Central Hospital, Mill Lane, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside L44 4UF and associated premises;

(b)to manage community health services provided from Victoria Central Hospital, Mill Lane, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside L44 4UF and associated hospitals, and to provide the associated premises.

Directors of the trust

4. The trust shall have, in addition to the chairman, 5 non-executive directors and 5 executive directors.

Operational date and accounting date of the trust

5.-(1) The operational date of the trust shall be 1st April 1997.

(2) The accounting date of the trust shall be 31st March.

Restriction on disposal of assets

6. The sum specified for the purposes of paragraph 6(2)(d) of Schedule 2 to the Act (maximum value of freely disposable assets) in relation to the trust shall be £1,000,000.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order establishes the Wirral and West Cheshire Community National Health Service Trust, an NHS trust provided for in section 5 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. It also provides for the functions of the trust (article 3). It specifies the operational date (the date on which the trust assumes all its functions) and the accounting date of the trust (article 5), and it specifies the value of assets in excess of which the Secretary of State is to consider the disposal of the assets (article 6).