Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Consequential Amendments No. 3) Order 2010

Earl Howe Excerpts

Monday 26th July 2010 Grand Committee

Moved By

[Earl Howe]

That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Consequential Amendments No. 3) Order 2010.

Relevant Document: First Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe)]

My Lords, this order makes a consequential amendment to the Water Industry Act 1991. The amendment is required as a result of the implementation of a new registration system under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, which set out a system of registration for providers of health and adult social care that the Care Quality Commission operates. To manage the registration process, providers are being brought into the new system in stages. The dates for these stages are set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.

As of 1 April this year, all NHS providers were subject to the new system of registration. It will cover private and voluntary healthcare providers, and adult social care providers, from 1 October 2010. The providers are registered under the Care Standards Act 2000. Therefore, on 1 October, certain provisions of the Care Standards Act will be repealed. One of these will be the definition, in Section 2 of the Act, of an “independent hospital in England”. A previous order—the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Consequential Amendments No. 2) Order 2010—made a number of consequential amendments to primary legislation using this definition. Unfortunately, an amendment to the Water Industry Act 1991 was missed, so this order is necessary because of that omission. Anyone who buys, or has bought, the earlier order will be entitled to a copy of this order free of charge.

A further order, subject to the negative parliamentary procedure, has been laid today and will make the necessary amendments to secondary legislation. Schedule 4A to the Water Industry Act 1991 contains a list of premises that should not be disconnected for the non-payment of water charges, including,

“an independent hospital within the meaning of the Care Standards Act 2000”.

As the definition of “independent hospital” in the Care Standards Act 2000 will no longer be applicable in England, this order makes a consequential amendment to the definition in the Water Industry Act 1991. It replaces the current cross-reference to the Care Standards Act 2000 with a new definition of an “independent hospital” for England. This new definition covers the same kinds of premises that were previously covered, but does not rely on a reference to the definition in the Care Standards Act 2000. The definition for Wales remains unchanged. I commend this order to the Committee.

[Baroness Thornton]

I thank the Minister for explaining this small order arising out of Section 162 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. I suppose that I should apologise to the Committee for the earlier omission, which is why we are here. Section 162 is a part that confers power on the Minister to ensure that the Act is in compliance with existing legislation, and indeed that is what the Minister explained in a more than adequate fashion.

I confess that I was not sure that I could see the necessity of this order until I realised that the healthcare facilities mentioned can have their water cut off as a result of non-payment. Can the Minister confirm whether this has happened in the interim period?

The key matter on which I should like further clarification is the definition of an “independent hospital”. I think that I heard the Minister confirm that this covers the public, private and charitable sectors, any one of which may be providing healthcare as listed in new paragraph (5). Am I right to assume that this does not cover care homes or nursing homes, and that they are covered elsewhere?

Finally, I am relieved that body piercing and tattooing parlours are exempt from the order. I also wonder whether chemical peels, which are fashionable now, are covered under paragraph (5)(e)(iii) and (iv) for the purposes of this order.

This order is otherwise perfectly straightforward and I support the Minister in moving the Motion.

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her questions. The first point to make is that we are in time with this order, because the operative date is 1 October, so there is no retrospective element. There is therefore no question of any hospital having fallen between two stools, so to speak, as regards water disconnection. I am not aware that there has been a problem on that front.

The noble Baroness asked about the definition. Schedule 4A to the Water Industry Act 1991 lists a number of premises that are not to be disconnected for non-payment of water charges. These include, among other premises, NHS hospitals, premises used to provide medical or dental services by registered practitioners, children’s homes, schools and care homes. These premises will continue to be protected from disconnection for the non-payment of water charges. No changes are being made to these parts of the schedule.

The noble Baroness also asked whether chemical peels were excluded under new paragraph (5)(e). As that procedure is not counted as surgery, chemical peels are not included and therefore do not receive protection from disconnection under paragraph (5)(e).

[Baroness Hussein-Ece]

I should like to ask my noble friend a couple of questions. I understand completely the need for this order. It is a sensible step and an important one to ensure that the establishments mentioned do not suddenly have their water cut off. However, I want to ask what penalties are in place for water companies that do not follow these regulations and how are they enforced. Further, what review mechanism is in place if other establishments need to be added to the list in due course?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, as regards the penalties, I am going to have to write to the noble Baroness because, as she will understand, those are a matter for another department. I know that I am here to speak for the Government as a whole, but I am afraid that I do not have that information in my brief. On a review of the list of those premises that are exempt from disconnection, again, I will write to her.

Motion agreed.