Maternity Commissioner

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

As always, I thank my noble friend for his question. He raises a very serious point: how many experts can we have in this space? That is why the review and the task force will take these requests forward. Many different requests have come forward over, I have to say, the many years that there have been problems in these services. This is a serious moment, and we have to make sure that whatever we bring in leads to action and to change and that vast improvements are made as quickly as possible.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Watts, said, when there is a problem in healthcare, there is often a call for a commissioner to be appointed, but Governments are often reluctant to do so for fear of creating whole new bureaucracies and all the recommendations of the human resources departments. Given that a number of reports have recommended a commissioner, can the Minister tell us, were the Government not to appoint a commissioner, who would be responsible for holding the whole system, particularly maternity care, to account? Also, who could be a voice for patients?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Lord gets to the point of what the taskforce will be doing. It would be wrong of me to try to pre-empt the outcomes and recommendations that come forward. As I have said before, right through this work, the voices of families and women in particular must be paramount. I am delighted that the Secretary of State has personally met representatives from around the country and is taking a very hands-on role to make sure that we get the right outcome.