Schedule 1 - Health Protection Agency
Health Protection Agency Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Miss Melanie Johnson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health; Welwyn Hatfield, Labour)
I am coming to that. I have not yet finished.
First, the amendment places a duty on the Secretary of State to produce itemised accounts; that is obviously not the intention, but it would be the effect. Secondly, it is unclear where the responsibility lies for determining service levels in relation to devolved functions. Is the responsibility with the devolved Administration, as it should be? If so, why should the Secretary of State be involved? If not, does the responsibility lie with the agency or the Secretary of State? That would not be acceptable to the devolved Administrations. After all, which of us would be happy to allow someone else the right to run up bills that we would have to meet?
The hon. Member for Westbury is concerned that paragraph 19 might require the Secretary of State to subsidise the devolved Administrations—that fundamental point was made by both hon. Gentlemen—but that is not what it does. The provision requires the Secretary of State to take account of all funds received by the agency from other sources when coming to a decision on what funding he should provide. However, that does not require him to make up any shortfall in funding; nor does it necessarily require him to reduce the funding that he provides if income from other sources is higher than expected. It is a way of ensuring that, in allocating taxpayers' money to the agency, the Secretary of State takes account of the agency's general financial position.
In answer to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam, if the funds that the agency receives from a devolved Administration are not adequate to provide a particular level of service, the agency will need to agree with that Administration what level of service should be provided for the funding in question. It is not for the Secretary of State to substitute his judgment for that of a devolved Administration. The amendment must therefore be resisted.
The hon. Member for Westbury asked about Government amendment No. 7. The amendment simply removes the Lords privilege provision of clause 13(2). It does not relate to the point under discussion.
The hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam asked what services the agency will provide and what the devolved Administrations will pay. The services that the agency provides for the devolved Administrations will obviously not include services that are UK-wide, which will be purchased by the Government.