Technical and Further Education Bill

Debate between Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Lord Young of Norwood Green

Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 27th February 2017 Grand Committee

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, this has been an interesting debate, with two completely separate discussions. On the issue of copyright, a meeting would be helpful. I am puzzled, because the Government are saying they would encourage those people who wish to bid for work to be innovative in the bids they put forward, but actually the reward for innovation is to be stuck in a competitive tendering exercise—and, by the way, at the end of the tendering period we will nick your ideas. That does not seem to be quite what we want. Surely we want some partnership here and some commitment from the private sector to commit to R&D and innovation, but they must have some share of the proceeds. The idea that they can get that back in the short tender period that is going to operate is, at the least, problematic.

It seems that the Government are relying on the institute to be the innovator and then to tender that out. Okay, if that is the way it is going to work then we should be explicitly told that, but I do not think they can have it both ways. It would be interesting to have that debate.

On Amendment 20, regarding resits, I take what the Minister has said—that many of those young people who resit their GCSE maths and English as a result of the new policy introduced in 2014 now have grade C —and that is a good thing. However, we know there are thousands and thousands of young people who resat but are never going to get their GCSE maths and English. My point is that this can be a very discouraging process for both students and teachers, and I am looking for a more imaginative approach. I acknowledge it is important that someone going into employment can add up and understand percentages and percentiles, but this does not necessarily mean they have reached the GCSE qualification.

Some clarification is required as there is a point I am not entirely clear on. Is it the case that for someone who goes on to an apprenticeship under the auspices of the institute and continues to resit, and can satisfy the employer at the end-point assessment, because they do not have their GCSE maths they are not going to be able to qualify as an apprentice? I may have got that wrong, so having a letter in response to that would be helpful—I am certain I have got it wrong because officials are telling me so.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green]

That is good news.

Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill

Debate between Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Lord Young of Norwood Green

Committee: 2nd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 25th January 2017 Grand Committee

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab)]

I am not an expert in this area, but I am puzzled. If it is that difficult to identify, how come the Times managed it in its expose? It did not seem very difficult or complex. The Times found drugs that had come out of patent and were available on a generic basis and for which the company that bought the patent increased the cost by staggering amounts. You do not have to be Sherlock Holmes to alight upon that. I do not know which way to go on this debate. My noble friend worries about fishing expeditions, and he is right, but I am even more worried about the NHS being ripped off for inordinate amounts of money by people whose corporate responsibility polices omit the word “ethics”. I asked once before why none of the current audit processes inside the health service exposed this until the Times brought it to public attention. There may be a mass of information, but I would have thought that these things could quite easily be identified. I may be wrong because, as I said, I am not an expert in this very complex area, but those points need to be answered. The problem was identified. We have this Bill because we know that the current system is not working. Even though people in the various systems in the NHS were reporting their concerns, no action was taken for quite a long time. It certainly justifies the legislation. The Delegated Powers Committee expressed its concerns about whether the legislation is right, and I do not profess to be qualified to rule on that, but my major concern is about the ability of some companies to rip off the NHS.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, my noble friend is right because he goes to the heart of the argument about this Bill. I think we have all said that we support the core aim, which is to deal with branded products becoming generics and the issues that were identified. The question is whether the Bill is a proportionate response to that and what impact it will have on future investment in this country.

I have been wracking my brains to puzzle out why this was first legislated for in 1977. My noble friend will remember that that was the time of the prices and incomes policy. Lady Williams of Crosby and my esteemed noble friend Lord Hattersley were Secretaries of State for Prices and Consumer Protection. I would not be at all surprised if it had something to do with that. I have to say that it was not altogether successful as a policy, and I am not sure that it is a great precedent for the Minister to rely on now. Certainly, in 1979 the electorate did not think that it was a very successful policy, that is for sure.

The only point I want to put to the Minister is this: I think there is a consensus in the Committee that there needs to be some trigger mechanism. We have had elements of that. The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, proposed an amendment that included appeals. He suggested what would trigger action, which was very helpful. In his amendment, my noble friend suggested another approach. The Delegated Powers Committee is concerned about the general terms of this clause. It said:

“We consider the general power to be inappropriate unless the Minister is able to explain why it is not feasible to specify the further bodies to whom information may be disclosed on the face of the Bill, and why it is not feasible to limit the kinds of bodies to whom disclosure may be made”.


That picks up the point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, and I agree with him about NHS bodies,

The question is this. The only satisfactory safeguards will be in the Bill. This House has no influence on regulations. The Minister will know that only six or seven statutory instruments have ever been defeated, so regulations in themselves provide very little safeguard. This is our only opportunity to provide safeguards in the Bill. Essentially, the choice for us is to press on with amendments at Report or to come to some agreement with the Government about what is appropriate. That we need something in the Bill is not in doubt.