Clause 41 - Standards set by Secretary of State
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill
9:45 am
Dr Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I did not want to interrupt the hon. Gentleman earlier but, in discussing amendment No. 394, he said that it would exclude groups; I hope I am not misquoting him. I hope to impress on the hon. Gentleman that the amendment does not exclude any groups. By including the words ''as appropriate'', and
taken with amendment No. 395—which would allow a draft to be published even for those groups that have been excluded by the Secretary of State—the amendment guarantees inclusion for two groups, without excluding any groups.
I accept that the amendment treats groups unequally, but that is in the nature of the need to construct legislation that includes any sort of list. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will not say that it excludes people. I hope that he will reconsider that term.