10A.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), the Minister may specify—

(a) priorities to which the Executive shall have regard in preparing its service plan under section 31 or amending its service plan under section 32, and

(b) performance targets for the Executive in respect of such priorities.

(2) F23[…]

(3) The Minister shall consult with the Executive before specifying priorities or performance targets under this section and, having so specified such priorities or targets, shall furnish details of these in writing to the Executive.

(4) Before specifying priorities or performance targets under this section the Minister shall have regard to—

(a) best practice as respects the service the subject of the priority or performance target,

(b) outcomes for patients and recipients of services likely to be affected by the priority or performance target which the Minister is considering specifying, and

(c) the effect that specifying the priority or performance target concerned would be likely to have on other services provided by or on behalf of the Executive.

(5) In this section ‘performance targets’ means, as respects priorities specified under subsection (1), levels of performance by the Executive by which the effectiveness of the Executive in meeting such priorities can be measured by the Minister.]