Care Standards Bill [H.L.]

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:30 pm on 28 March 2000.

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Photo of Earl Howe Earl Howe Conservative 7:30, 28 March 2000

My Lords, I am grateful to all the noble Lords who have spoken in this debate and I should like to thank the Minister for what he has said on my amendment relating to consultation. I fully accept that it is inconceivable for this Government and, indeed, any future government that I can imagine, not to consult on such a matter. On the other hand, as the Minister will know, the undertaking of any one government is not binding on future governments and it does no harm to put such a provision on the face of the Bill. I am grateful to the Minister for offering to consider the matter.

I am afraid that I have more difficulty with his comments on my other amendment relating to parliamentary scrutiny. As I understand it, the regulations that will receive parliamentary scrutiny will be extremely broad brush. They will not contain anything like the kind of detail proposed in Fit for the Future? When those regulations are laid, no one will object to the concept of minimum standards. The principle of minimum standards is one on which all of us here are keen. It is what lies within; it is the devil in the detail. I am not convinced by the Minister's remarks. I should like to consider the matter further between now and Third Reading. Perhaps the Minister would be kind enough to see me privately on the matter. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.