Industrial Strategy Consultation

Debate between Lord Prior of Brampton and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Monday 23rd January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, I was not aware of the omission to which the noble Lord has drawn my attention. I think I am meeting someone from Yeovil in the helicopter business tomorrow, as it happens. Certainly, we will be using procurement. One area in which we have not been as clever as they have been in America, for example, is using defence procurement and other parts of government procurement to support competitive British industries. I will investigate the omission to which he has drawn my attention with regards to helicopter manufacture at Yeovil, and will try to understand why that is the case.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

My Lords, for many years successive Governments assiduously and conscientiously pursued what they called policies of regional development. Will the Minister undertake, despite all the difficulties and complications that now exist, that such policies will not be ruled out of court in the situation in which we now find ourselves?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the current jargon is to use “place” instead of “regional policy”, and place plays a large part in this industrial strategy. The issue was raised by the noble Lord opposite about the objectives. It is a very good point, and one I should have addressed earlier on. What are the objectives of the industrial strategy? I have in mind a decent working man in a place like Hartlepool, who ought to be commanding a decent wage of £30,000 to £35,000 a year, who is currently working for £7.50 an hour picking stock in a warehouse. That will be the true measure of whether this industrial strategy is a success—whether we can bring back decent, well-paid, skilled jobs to all parts of the country.

NHS: Junior Doctors’ Contract

Debate between Lord Prior of Brampton and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Wednesday 6th July 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I am not aware that there have been any resignations directly related to the junior doctors dispute.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

My Lords, is it not the case that there is an application before the High Court to be adjudicated upon, I believe on 11 July, seeking a declaration as to whether the Minister now has or ever did have the power of diktat to impose this upon the junior doctors? If it be the case that the junior doctors are successful in their application, does it not cast this issue in a wholly different mode?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the strong advice that we have is that the Secretary of State does have the power to introduce the new contract along with the NHS employers.

Junior Doctors: Industrial Action

Debate between Lord Prior of Brampton and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Monday 25th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, I completely agree with that. When the dust has settled, we have to take a wholly new and independent look at how junior doctors are trained. As the noble Lord will know, Sue Bailey, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, has been asked to look at this, but I do not think it is possible to do that sensibly while the dispute is ongoing. We need the full co-operation of junior doctors in that review. I would personally welcome an independent assessment of the way we train junior doctors once this dispute has been settled. I share my noble friend’s views entirely: it would be wonderful if the junior doctors would agree to provide emergency cover on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. But it is now 8.15 pm on Monday and time is rapidly running out.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

My Lords, the High Court will adjudicate in the first week of June on whether the Secretary of State ever had the authority to dictate to the junior doctors. There are different views on that question, but it does not really matter if the judgment goes against the junior doctors; the question is whether it is politic, sensible and proper in all the circumstances for the Minister to proceed by way of diktat. I urgently ask the House to consider these words; they are not mine but those of Sir David Nicholson, who up to two years ago, as your Lordships will remember, was the head of the NHS in England. They are addressed directly to the Secretary of State:

“Our future consultants, leaders and chief executives will forever remember you win by the exercise of power and imposition a catastrophe for the NHS”.

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, as I have said, this is not a place where we ever wanted to be. Imposition was absolutely a last resort and I again try to assure the House that it was arrived at only after three years of negotiation, an independent review by the DDRB and countless meetings. It was felt that, after all that time had elapsed, we had no choice but to impose the contract.

NHS: New Junior Doctor Contract

Debate between Lord Prior of Brampton and Lord Elystan-Morgan

Monday 18th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, the noble Baroness talks about a proper negotiation. This negotiation has gone on for three years and there have been 75 meetings about this contract. It is hard to know what a proper negotiation is when you have that number of meetings over that period of time. The junior doctors may not recognise this but the Government feel that 73 different concessions were made during that period. In many ways this has gone on for too long, and that is why, when Sir David Dalton got involved towards the end of the contract negotiations, his advice was, “You’ve got to settle this”. We cannot go on and on negotiating and discussing these matters.

On the other point that the noble Baroness raised, the pressure on our emergency services is huge at the moment. She is right that the A&E performance in January was very poor, but it is simply the case that demand on our A&E departments is huge.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan (CB)]

My Lords, is not the reality of the situation that for many months the Secretary of State has used the language of coercion rather than compromise? It is abundantly clear that he never had the statutory authority to impose such a contract of service on the doctors. At what point was he first advised that he had no such authority?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

I do not think that the Secretary of State has been under any misapprehension about his powers in this matter. The BMA, on behalf of the junior doctors, is judicially reviewing his powers, but those powers are clearly set out in Section 1 of the 2006 Act. It is our position that he has always had those powers, but we expect that to go to a judicial review on 8 and 9 June.