Table
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill
8:55 am
Mr Simon Burns (West Chelmsford, Conservative)
On behalf of my right hon. and hon. Friends, I echo the Minister's sentiments in welcoming you, Mr. Griffiths, and your colleague on the Chairman's panel, Mr. Atkinson, to the chairmanship of our proceedings. Given the confusion of the proposals, we look forward not only to proceeding in this Committee in a spirit of good faith and good manners, but to pressing the Government hard on their exact intentions.
The Opposition do not oppose the programme motion per se, but I wish to highlight two points. The first concerns the sitting on 19 June, during which we will debate clauses 157 onwards, which deal with NHS dentistry. I am glad to see the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy), in his place because I want to seek an assurance from him at the outset and give him plenty of time to prepare for that sitting.
Many of the Government's proposals will be finalised through regulations. To ensure that the Government have left enough time to discuss dentistry and the other matters in the programme motion, I am concerned that, if they are able, at the earliest possible moment during our proceedings and long before 19 June, they should give the Committee the draft regulations in any shape or form, so that we know more about their intentions as we conduct our debate. If that is not feasible, in order to help us in our deliberations, can the Under-Secretary provide us with greater details of what he anticipates might be in the regulations?
The second matter is slightly more sensitive. I do not seek to criticise the Committee of Selection, because that would be totally out of order, but I am concerned about the impact of the composition of this Committee on its ability to debate fully and properly and to tease out of the Government their arguments on those parts of the Bill that are highly contentious.
Will there be enough time under this programme motion to do that? As you know, Mr. Griffiths, composition of Committees should reflect the will of the House of Commons. When one sees the list of Labour Members who have been selected for this Committee—apart from Ministers and the sprinkling of Under-Secretaries, who do not get paid but are, so to speak, on the payroll—one is concerned about the time allocated.
Some 65 Labour Members—15 per cent. of the Labour party—voted for what is known as the rebels' amendment, yet there is no true person on this list who actually—[Interruption.] It is worrying that the timetable may not allow enough time for a possible rebel to decide what action to take. The hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) had it both ways; he voted for the rebel amendment yet supported the Bill on Second Reading, to enable him to develop his arguments.