18.— (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (6), the Board shall—

(a) prepare and adopt a statement of strategy for the term of office of the Board (or, as the case requires, the remaining term of office of the Board), and

(b) submit the statement to the Minister—

(i) not later than 6 months after the commencement of this subsection,

(ii) not later than 6 months after the appointment of a new Minister having charge of the Department of Health if that Minister requests that a statement of strategy be submitted,

(iii) not later than 6 months of the beginning of the term of office of each new Board appointed under section 22.

(2) The Board shall prepare a statement of strategy in a form and manner in accordance with any directions issued by the Minister and shall ensure that the statement specifies—

(a) the key objectives of the Board for the period to which the statement relates and the strategies for achieving those objectives,

(b) the manner in which the Board proposes to measure its achievement of those objectives, and

(c) the uses for which the Board proposes to apply its resources.

(3) The Board shall, in preparing the statement of strategy, have regard to the policies of the Government or a Minister of the Government to the extent that those policies may affect or relate to the functions of the Board.

(4) The Board shall ensure that—

(a) a draft of the statement of strategy that it proposes to adopt under this section is published in the prescribed manner, not later than 2 months before the time when the Board is to submit a statement of strategy to the Minister under subsection (1)(b),

(b) with the draft is published an invitation to members of the public, any organisation and any body to comment on the draft before a date, which shall not be earlier than one month after the date of the publication, which the Board specifies in the invitation, and

(c) it considers any comments received under paragraph (b) in preparing the statement of strategy that it submits to the Minister under this section.

(5) The Minister may direct the Board to amend a statement of strategy submitted to the Minister if, in the Minister’s opinion, the statement—

(a) does not contain any information required under subsection (2),

(b) does not comply in any other respect with subsection (2), or

(c) has been prepared without regard to the policies referred to in subsection (3).

(6) The Board shall comply with a direction given to it under subsection (5) within the period, if any, specified in the direction, being a period reasonable in the circumstances.

(7) The Board may amend an adopted statement of strategy and, in any such case—

(a) subsections (2) to (6) shall, with all necessary modifications, apply to the preparation of the amended statement as they apply to a statement of strategy prepared under subsection (1), and

(b) the Board shall adopt the amended statement and submit it to the Minister not later than 3 weeks after the date on which the Board adopted the amended statement.

(8) Nothing in a statement of strategy is to be construed as preventing the Board from, or limiting the Board in, performing its functions.