Clause 12 - Further functions of the Commission for Health Improvement
NHS Reform & Health Care Professions
4:30 pm
Mr John Hutton (Minister of State, Department of Health; Barrow and Furness, Labour)
I, too, welcome you back to the Committee, Miss Widdecombe. You have missed many interesting debates, but I hope that we will entertain you this afternoon.
The hon. Gentleman claims to ask two further questions, although only one of them is a genuine further question, as his remarks about subsection (5) have been exhaustively debated. He described it as a vexed question, but there is nothing vexed about the intent or purpose behind that subsection. To put the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends at ease, the Bill makes no changes to the value-for-money responsibilities of the Audit Commission.