Clause 25 - Regulatory bodies and the Council
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
5:15 pm
Dr Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I have added my name to amendment No. 187. I do not have a huge amount to add to the reasonable points argued by the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire. In discussions on earlier clauses I told the Minister that this was a crucial area, not only because of the issue that we are debating—the power of the council to direct regulatory bodies, which, as I shall argue, runs contrary to the theme of this part of the Bill—but because of the Government's resistance so far of the principle that there should be parity between the
council members appointed by the Government and those appointed by the regulatory bodies, or a majority for the latter.
The use of the terms ''lay'' and ''professional'' is unhelpful in this sense, because I see no reason why the regulatory bodies should not appoint a lay member to the council. The purpose is to represent the council, not the profession. Nevertheless, I believe that the idea of professional self-regulation is understood to mean a majority in the sense of people appointed by the regulatory bodies. The Government's current resistance to such a majority raises the stakes in the debate.
Exactly as the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire says, the power does appear to be a strong power, and does not appear, at least on the face of the Bill, to be a reserve power. I know that the Minister can hardly wait to get to his feet to explain that it will be a reserve power. Before he does so, I should like to point out to him the curious position of the word ''direct'' in the Bill. Clause 23(2)(a) talks about the promotion of the interests of the patients—not seeking to ensure those interests, but simply the promotion of best practice. Clause 23(2)(c) says that one of the council's functions is to encourage regulatory bodies to conform to principles relating to good professional self-regulation, and clause 23(2)(d) says that another is to ''promote co-operation''. The choice of those words, which has my support, is based on the feelings behind those words. Similarly, clause 24(2)(c) says that the council may
''recommend to a regulatory body changes to the way in which it performs any of its functions.''
There are other areas where the terms are not as harsh as ''to direct'', and clearly the statement that the council
''may direct a regulatory body to make rules'',
as in clause 25(2), significantly changes what that means. As has been said, the rules—rules that must be approved by the Privy Council—would cover almost every area of a regulatory council's work, at least according to briefings that I have seen from some regulatory bodies.
It seems to me that the Government's amendments seek to reduce the sense of strength of that clause by changing the word ''may'' to ''shall'' when it comes to the Secretary of State's making provision in regulations. That is a curious change of position as the Minister has previously resisted, for reasons that he has given in each individual case, the changing of ''mays'' to ''shalls'' where they are, arguably, protective of the over-regulation of the profession.
The second Government amendment is also intended to be reassuring. However, I will need some persuasion before I withdraw my support for amendment No. 186.