Clause 30
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
7:30 pm
Edward Garnier (Shadow Minister, Justice; Harborough, Conservative)
Before the Under-Secretary spoke, I had some misgivings, which have been allayed to some extent by what she said. I was fearful that the Secretary of State would, under amendment No. 287, simply redefine what the commissioner could look at in relation to health care and neuter him. Under clause 32—this feeds into the point made by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome—the commissioner will have the remit to consider the eligibility of a complaint and can take action under subsection (3)(b), which states that
“taking, or facilitating the taking by another person of, any other action (such as mediation or conciliation) which the Commissioner considers may result in the resolution of the complaint”.
I do not know whether the Government believe that the words in brackets limit the other action to mediation or conciliation, but I hope that the clause deals with the concern that the hon. Gentleman and I had that the Secretary of State would simply cut the commissioner’s power to look into health care matters because that might be politically inconvenient. If the commissioner can refer matters to the health ombudsman or the appropriate office holder under clause 32, my fears are dealt with.