Clause 42
Health and Social Care Bill
1:45 pm
Stephen O'Brien (Shadow Minister, Health; Eddisbury, Conservative)
I am not sure that I can take much more rejection. I am tempted to dwell on the point, which is probably my best lever. If I cannot persuade the Minister, I cannot. He spoke about reviewing and having too much of a hands-on approach, but this power was drafted as “inspect”. I accept that if someone inspects they are likely to have a view as to whether that amounts to a review, but I do not want to split hairs on that. However, the power of inspection was more to have something that would urge people to ensure that they got it done in a timely fashion.
I was initially sceptical when the Government suggested—it is a direct parallel and involved an area like mine, which I suspect is not dissimilar to parts of the Minister’s constituency—that it would be appropriate for parishes to bring in parish plans. I saw that as yet another piece of written bureaucracy that is going to tie people up. Instead, it has served to bring focus and energy into local communities to decide what they want collectively to make their priorities. In many cases—not all—it has served to be a good, rather than a burden. I wanted to inform what is going on here through that process. The fact that one has the right to come in and inspect, whether or not an inspection has been made, encourages that to happen without being over-prescriptive.
As I say, I do not think that I have been able to persuade the Minister, but I hope that, as a final flourish, he might put that also into the “Reflect” box. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.