Schedule 2 - Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Simon Burns (West Chelmsford, Conservative)
I do not intend to detain the Committee for long. First, as will have become apparent during our debate on the amendments proposed to schedule 2, my hon. Friends and I are still concerned—notwithstanding what the Minister has said to seek to reassure us—that the independence of the independent regulator is compromised by the arrangements, even if they are administrative arrangements over his appointment. I will check that in Hansard on Thursday morning, and study it further, with a view to possibly returning to the subject. My hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) may wish to do that at a later stage in the proceedings.
Secondly, paragraphs 10 and 11 in the schedule are perfectly straightforward. They amend the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and the Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975, and those will now state that the regulator for foundation trusts is disqualified from being a Member of this House or of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The Under-Secretary said—I think it was during the debate on clause 1—that, at some point, the Government would table an amendment to make it a disqualify from this House someone on the board of governors of a foundation trust. Presumably that would be a straightforward amendment; however, looking through this morning's list of amendments, I see that it has not been forthcoming. Would it have been possible for the Government to have produced the amendment to include in the schedule because it deals with disqualification, or would that be inappropriate? Will the Government have to attach that amendment to another schedule or clause? When does the Minister expect that amendment to be tabled for our consideration?