Clause 12 - Further functions of the Commission for Health Improvement

Part of NHS Reform & Health Care Professions – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:45 pm on 4 December 2001.

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Photo of John Hutton John Hutton Minister of State, Department of Health, Minister of State (Department of Health) (Health) 12:45, 4 December 2001

In general terms, the provisions are necessary reserve powers that a Secretary of State needs. We should not lose sight—I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has not done so—of the fact that public money sustains the CHI. I am sorry if I have given him a lesson in constitutional theory and practice, as that was not my intention, but as he knows Ministers are accountable to the House for the use of public money, and long may that continue. Without labouring the point, we need the tools if we are to discharge that responsibility. He and others would be the first to criticise us if the essential procedures to do so were not in place. We have not yet issued any regulations under section 20(3) of the 1999 Act.

If the hon. Gentleman were unhappy about section 20(3) and (4) of the 1999 Act, he could table another amendment to clause 12. He has banged on at length today, but has failed to table an amendment to deal with his point, and he has had plenty of time to do so. Perhaps I am making a rod for my own back for the debate on Report. I look forward to discussing the subject with him if he wants to push it on the Floor of the House, but I think that the powers are a necessary reserve set of arrangements to ensure proper use of public funds. They will not be used in an attempt to subvert the independence that we think should rightly rest with the Commission for Health Improvement, but they are essential in the overall scheme of things to ensure proper accountability for public funds.