Quality and Safety of Organs Intended for Transplantation (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Wednesday 9th January 2019 Grand Committee

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My noble friend knows an awful lot more about House of Lords procedure than I do, so I seek her advice. If I were in the other place, as I was for 26 years, I would know exactly what to do. I would ask the Chair, Speaker or whoever was responsible whether it is really in order for us to consider going ahead with something that will involve more expenditure by the Department of Health and its excellent officials, who are sitting behind the Minister, given that the House of Commons decided against a no-deal Brexit yesterday. In other words, we are doing something that seems ultra vires: working on the basis of no deal, which is now not just unlikely but, pray, certain not to take place because of yesterday’s decision. How can we challenge this? How can we stop going ahead with the farce of considering these statutory instruments when we are aware of a decision taken in the other place? Should it be raised with the Clerk of the Parliaments?

I would love our present Deputy Chairman of Committees to rule on that because she is a wise woman and would rule wisely but, sadly, she does not have the power to do so. She knows, as do others, that I have raised many times on the Floor of the House the matter of giving more powers to the Speaker and, following on from that, to the Chairman of Committees, but I have got nowhere. I want to ask my long-standing friend and experienced parliamentarian, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, whether there is any way for us to put the Minister out of her misery and abandon both these statutory instruments and those that the noble Lord, Lord Bates—poor him—will have to struggle to deal with. How can we do that?

[Baroness Thornton]

My noble friend tempts me to step outside my pay grade. That is not my job.

[Baroness Thornton]

That is true. I forgot that bit.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

You should be.

[Baroness Thornton]

It is not my job to say whether our discussions are ultra vires. The Constitution Committee might usefully address that issue at some point, but this Committee has already made its views quite clear to the Government during the debate on the previous two statutory instruments. I am happy to say that this matter is the Committee’s responsibility.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Barker]

Yes, and specifically, I want to ask the noble Baroness about traceability. In these regulations it says that the UK is planning to introduce its own coding system once it is no longer taking part in the EU Coding Platform. Is it right to assume that we will revert to a traceability system that was in place before the EU Coding Platform was introduced, and will it be of the same standard that we have now? I suspect it will not, and therefore the Government should be clear and say that in the matter of the importing and exporting of organs—which are, let us bear in mind, in short supply across the world—we are going to place ourselves at a disadvantage.

I will ask one other question. It is clearly stated that a number of powers currently belonging to the Commission are being transferred to the Secretary of State. Does the Secretary of State have the capacity to make changes in relation to traceability, notification of adverse events and testing to establish whether tissue sent to the UK is free of infection? How can it be demonstrated that new techniques used to process cells and tissues are safe and effective? And what is going to be the cost of that to the NHS? I am not holding my breath, but I would say that the evidence of the last three hours suggests that this Government are prepared to take a massive gamble with the health of our population.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

I put a question to the noble Baroness, similar to the one I put to my noble friend. Tomorrow, on the Floor of the House, her compatriot, her fellow Liberal Democrat, the noble Lord, Lord Beith, has a question:

“To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Parliamentary time required for the consideration and approval of statutory instruments arising from the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union”.


Would that be a good opportunity to raise the question about ultra vires?

[Baroness Barker]

My Lords, procedure and process in this House is not one of my specialities, but I understand that my noble friend Lord Beith has put that Question down, precisely because the whole House knows that there is absolutely no way we can sit from now until the planned Brexit day and get through the amount of work. Therefore, a great many matters will be left unexamined, and that is quite dangerous.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Adonis]

Not content.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

Not content.

Motion negatived.