Autism Bill
2:40 pm
Phil Hope (Minister of State (Care Services; Minister for the East Midlands), Department of Health; Corby, Labour)
Yes, I hope to provide the Committee with the relevant information as and when we reach those points in the Bill. Officials from the Department have been in regular contact with the promoter of the Bill—the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham—and her advisers to discuss how best we can take forward their concerns in ways that give the degree of certainty that action will happen in responding to the needs of children, young adults and adults across the country, while retaining the flexibility that we need to ensure that local needs and circumstances are taken fully into account. I hope that we can have meaningful discussions to achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome.
My starting point for the sittings will be to try to convince the Committee, as I said on Second Reading, that there is no need for the legislation that we are going to consider. Like the hon. Lady, I am in an unusual position on a private Member’s Bill. It is unique for me and I dare say for many other Members, because this is not a Government Bill. It is not a Bill that we feel able to support in its current form.
On a point that was raised about the money resolution, we expected that the promoter of the Bill would undertake the assessment of costs associated with her proposals that we need to inform decisions on the scope of the money resolution. However, we have not had that information, although I wrote to the hon. Lady and my officials met her team only last week. Inevitably, that has meant a delay in tabling the money resolution. I hope that we can resolve those issues.