Committee (1st Day)

Part of Health and Social Care Bill – in the House of Lords at 7:00 pm on 25 October 2011.

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Photo of Lord Warner Lord Warner Labour 7:00, 25 October 2011

I am sorry to interrupt the Minister's flow, but he has been interrupted, so I thought I would ask my question now. The Minister has given us quite a lot of assurances about what the government amendment would cover, but I put to him a particular issue that came up-not that long ago, in 2006-when there was a major national row about the number of specialist training places. A large number of doctors and would-be doctors marched on London to complain about that system. It was absolutely clear that the only person who could deal with that issue in any satisfactory way, for both the professions and the public, was the Secretary of State. Is the Minister absolutely confident that the government amendment would enable the Secretary of State to act in such circumstances?