In the ideal world, it would never be necessary for law-makers to pass legislation insisting that public bodies co-operate with each other!

That this became necessary, in the 2007 Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act, is testimony to a silo mentality throughout the public sector, genuine problems of bureaucratic boundaries or just meddlesome Ministers unable to leave well enough alone; take your pick …! Whatever its motivation, Section 106(3)(a) stands, and we will shortly receive CLG Guidelines on how to interpret this new duty, and how to apply it in practice.