Health and Social Care Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:15 pm on 17 January 2008.
Jimmy Hood
Labour, Lanark and Hamilton East
With this it will be convenient to take Government new Clause 13—Avoidance of unreasonable burdens in exercise of regulatory powers.
Ben Bradshaw
Minister of State (Regional Affairs) (South West), The Minister of State, Department of Health
The new Clause and the amendments that we debated earlier were requested by Welsh Ministers in relation to care provided in Wales registered under the Care Standards Act 2000, which will not fall under the scope of the new Care Quality Commission because it will only operate in England. Welsh Ministers wanted to take the opportunity to introduce enforcement powers for Wales that mirror many of those that the Bill proposed for the Care Quality Commission in England and said that they wanted a little more time to consider the full implications of that. That is why I regret having to bring in the new clause now. Having done so, they have asked me to put forward this new clause.
Stephen O'Brien
Shadow Minister (Health)
I can see that the Minister has had precious little in the way of options if the discussions with Welsh Ministers are on that time track. This is the first of the Government amendments that we have reached during the course of the Committee’s considerations and is one of some 60 amendments. Clearly, anything to mitigate the burden of regulation would, in principle, have my support. It would be helpful, however, at this first outing, when there are implications for Welsh Ministers and the progress of discussions with Welsh Ministers, if he could tell us whether those discussions have concluded or are ongoing, so that we can have full knowledge of what to expect concerning that in Government amendments and new clauses. I am sure that he would accept that we have not had the dovetailing we might have hoped for.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and it is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
