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A Liberal Democrat government would introduce legislation allowing local authorities to commission health care as well as social care, according to the party’s health spokesperson, writes Katie Leason in Newcastle.

Paul Burstow said that ahead of the legislation he would ask for volunteers to become pathfinder authorities. Existing powers under the Health Act 1999 could be used to pilot local authority led commissioning, he said.

"Decisions about the what, where, who, how and why of commissioning should be made locally. Those who make the decisions should be answerable locally for their decisions," he said.

He added that local authority commissioners should also be able to use health resources to develop social services.

Burstow also used his speech to criticise the draft mental health bill, saying that "without improvement it should not pass". He said that it was wrong to include such a wide range of people and such a wide definition of treatment within the bill.

"It still feels like a Home Office bill masquerading as a health bill," he said.

He described the Children Bill as a bill "with a good purpose" but said that unless it built links between registered social landlords and children’s services it would be a missed opportunity.