Clause 2
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
11:15 am
Alistair Burt (Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government), Communities and Local Government; North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)
It says there in his brief.
The time scale has been short, and that may be an issue, but I think that there is enough time. If the Government have the will and the barrage of criticism makes them uncomfortable, they have the opportunity to do something about it and get something on the record. They can say to the Committee and the House that they have taken the strictures seriously, and that, “We can understand where you are coming from. This is how we intend to go about it.” However, there is nothing at all in the Bill. It has been weeks and, in all fairness, it should be there. The Minister and his hon. Friends could have done better and avoided the concern by limiting the powers in the manner in which they have been discussed. However, they have taken no physical steps to do anything about it.
We are left with the Minister’s assurance and with his word. As the hon. Member for Hazel Grove said, for us that is no problem. The Minister’s word is his bond. There is no difficulty whatever with this particular Minister. He says that he will do something, and I accept it. His word is like a gold bar in a sea of Government bankruptcy. [Laughter.] His word is so good that I would dress it up in shirt and coat and take it down Biggleswade high street because I would be so confident that his word is an attractive proposition.
However, we live in difficult times; we live in changing times. Who knows what is circling around the Government at the moment that might propel the Minister from the position he holds so admirably into something else? It is beyond our ken. It may even be beyond the ken of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, but things can happen quickly that can change the Government, and Minister and his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may no longer find themselves in their present roles. Where would the assurance be then?
That is why, over the centuries, we have rightly come to rely on what is written down in a Bill and amendments as giving us more of a clue than the good intentions of honourable and well intentioned Ministers. I say to the Minister that, despite his assurances, there is nothing about the issue in the Bill, and because of that, the directions ought to go. He either adjourns the Committee now and makes a limiting proposal or we will have to press the matter to a Division.
I am grateful to have had this opportunity in Committee, and I think that the Minister can understand why we are concerned. I hope to receive an immediate concession on this most important point for the benefit of the Committee and the House as a whole.