Clause 34 - Amendments of health service legislation in connection with consolidation
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
11:00 am
Mr John Hutton (Minister of State, Department of Health; Barrow and Furness, Labour)
Clause 34 will enable the Secretary of State to amend legislation on the health service by order if he thinks that such an amendment will assist the consolidation of that legislation. Under subsections (2) and (3), amendments made under the order will form part of consolidating legislation. Clause 36(3) provides for such orders to be subject to affirmative resolution; I hope that the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire is reassured by that.
The last piece of consolidated health service legislation was the National Health Service Act 1977. Since then, more than 50 Acts of Parliament have amended that Act and there have been countless regulations. As part of a consolidation exercise, the clause allows for the Secretary of State to amend legislation on the health service in England and Wales. I have tried to make it clear that consolidation is a purely technical exercise and is led by the Law Commission. The substance of the law cannot be changed through a consolidation exercise, but amendments made by order under the clause can be used to tidy up poor drafting—I acknowledge that examples of that might exist—remove ambiguities or reorder provisions to make them more comprehensible. As the Committee is aware, there is a special Joint Committee of both Houses, which is formed for the life of a Parliament, specifically to examine consolidation Bills.
In opposition and government, when one deals with reforming or amending legislation, it becomes apparent that health service and health care legislation is a complex jigsaw with myriad pieces. That is not only so for regulatory arrangements for health care professions, but for the operation of the NHS. The task of hon. Members—let alone that of lawyers, practitioners and people outside this place—is to keep a firm grasp of the law; cross-referring between different pieces of legislation is a fiendishly horrible exercise. If we can facilitate comprehension and grasp of detail by consolidation, we should take that opportunity. Clause 34 simply provides the means to make the consolidation process effective.