Clause 40 - Short title, interpretation,commencement and extent
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
2:45 pm
Mr Simon Burns (West Chelmsford, Conservative)
I will be brief, but as we are nearing the end of the Bill, it would be remiss of me not to end, or almost end, on the point on which I began. The clause deals with, among other things, the commencement of the Act, if and when it becomes one. That brings us back to the argument of whether the Government are rushing the introduction of PCTs and strategic health authorities too quickly.
I will not test your patience, Miss Widdecombe, by rehearsing yet again the arguments that Opposition Members made vigorously in the early stages of the Committee. However, I want to put it on record, if only to protect myself in a year or 18 months' time when there is an utter shambles, that we the Opposition flag up that we are as concerned as we were at the start of the Committee that the Government's reforms, on PCTs in particular, are being rushed. We still believe that it would have been wise and sensible to have postponed enabling PCTs to act as they will under the legislation for six months, until April 2003.
I will leave it there, having simply put it on the record that we have warned the Government and shown them what we believe is the folly of their undue rush. If, sadly, our fears become reality, the Government must realise—unusually for this
Government—that they have only themselves to blame for the shambles and confusion. They have been more than adequately warned.