Clause 46
Health and Social Care Bill
2:45 pm
Ben Bradshaw (Minister of State (Health Services; Minister for the South West), Department of Health; Exeter, Labour)
In response to the specific situation that the hon. Lady described and which we discussed earlier, about a care home having to close all of a sudden, I would point out that clause 2(3)(c) requires the Care Quality Commission to balance its own action against the risk that the action might pose for users. I hope that that goes some way to reassure her, as the commission will have a duty to consider that sort of situation. Clause 2 makes it clear that the commission must pay particular heed to the need to safeguard the rights and welfare of vulnerable people in everything that it does. That clearly applies to the commission’s actions under clause 48. In the light of that, I ask her to withdraw the amendment.