Clause 1 - English health authorities: change of name
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
12:00 pm
Mr John Baron (Billericay, Conservative)
The Minister misunderstands. I am not saying that there is no role for Government in running the NHS or that the Government should not provide basic safety nets and guidelines for providing the service at the coal face. However, the Government are arguing that the Bill is decentralising when clearly it is not. The Secretary of State will set microtargets, performance targets and criteria for a swathe of areas, and money will be withdrawn if those are not met. That is micromanagement. There is a role for Government and it is a question of getting the balance right, but they have gone too far in centralising, rather than decentralising.