Public Bodies Bill [HL]

Lord Newton of Braintree Excerpts

Monday 9th May 2011 Lords Chamber

Having said all that, and giving that as a backdrop to my sense that it would be easier if the HTA and HFEA were not in the same amendments because they involve different issues, I have considerable sympathy with the intentions behind these amendments. They are thoughtful and are an attempt not to knock the whole applecart over. They try to ensure that the transitional arrangements, and where we come to at the end of the journey, are building and capitalising on all the very good things that have happened and that none of that is lost. In that regard, I hope my noble friend may have some comfort for those who have put their names to these amendments and that they will find some satisfaction.

[Lord Newton of Braintree]

My Lords, I wonder whether I might start by expressing my warm thanks to my noble friend Lady Bottomley for intervening in this debate. I had been dithering about whether to do so because for reasons I cannot understand my Front Bench regard me as a bit of a troublemaker on this Bill. Since no one could possibly accuse my noble friend Lady Bottomley of being a troublemaker, she has leant me a cloak of respectability, which I now put on. I agree very much with what she said. I should perhaps declare an historic interest as chair of a hospital trust that did transplants at the time that the Alder Hey events came to light and was, therefore, much interested in the introduction and passage, and the subsequent success, of the Human Tissue Act. So I have some longstanding interest in this.

But even without that, there is a concern that what we may be doing here is upsetting arrangements that appear to have worked pretty well without being at all clear about what we are going to put in their place. My noble friend also referred to her concern, as I have done on an earlier occasion, about whether the Care Quality Commission, which already has more on its plate than it can deal with, can take on any more until it has settled down to what it is seeking to do at the moment. Given the eloquence of the speeches made, particularly those of the noble Baronesses, Lady Deech and Lady Warwick, the noble Lord, Lord Walton, and others, I hope that my noble friend the Minister will give these amendments very careful consideration indeed.

I hope your Lordships will not think that I am indulging myself if I take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the kind words said at the last knockings of the Report stage about my absence at the time through ill health. My particular thanks go to the noble Lords, Lord Pannick and Lord Whitty, for picking up a couple of my amendments, even though they did not get what I would regard as perfect answers. I am also grateful for the very warm words of the shadow Leader of the House, the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, who I am sorry not to see in her place. She was kinder about me that I ever thought I would deserve, and as a result probably caused more upset on these Benches. It would be tempting as a counterpoint to say that my noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach saw me here last week and his first words were, “Should you really be here? Wouldn’t you be better off at home?”. But that would be very unfair because he has been genuine solicitous of my welfare and has actually offered to release me from slavery even when he thinks I would not cause trouble. I am very grateful to him.

I have already indicated to my noble friend Lord Howe that I have some sympathy with these amendments and that I shall listen carefully to what he says if he does not want to accept them. I want simply to tell him that what he says will have to be good.

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

I rise to speak specifically in support of Amendment 9, to which I have added my name. However, I want first to record my thanks to the noble Earl, Lord Howe, on the Front Bench for the very courteous way in which he has tried to respond to these issues throughout the passage of the Bill. The reality is that we should not be at this particular juncture now. If we had had proper consultation before these proposals came to light, we would have been able to argue the issues out sensibly and carefully. I recall the way the last Government treated the draft tissue and embryo Bill. They created a committee of both Houses that looked carefully at the issues and prepared a report. It was accepted by them and actually changed the legislation that was going through the House. With hindsight, we can always do things differently, as we learnt last Thursday.

I think that Amendment 9 is crucial. The Academy of Medical Sciences made a proposal to create a health research agency that was not just supported by the medical and research professions, but by all the political aspects of all the parties in both Houses of Parliament. It is rare for that to occur. I have argued with the Minister that the real crux of this Bill is not knowing what you are actually going to move to. I think that the concerns about the CQC are a little unfair. The reality of the situation is that the CQC already regulates and inspects a significant number of premises and establishments that deal with the use of embryos, embryo research and the clinical application of techniques using embryos. There is already significant duplication, so to argue that a new body would either increase or decrease duplication would depend on how you finally decide which functions will go to which organisation.

Health research is also crucial. The report of the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, has rightly been mentioned often today. She established firmly back in the 1980s the fundamental issue of the special nature of the embryo, particularly when dealing with research. The noble Baroness, Lady Deech, is absolutely right that the founding of the HFEA has enabled research using the embryo, particularly when we started to look at stem cells and admixed hybrid embryos, to go through. That is because there has been a regulatory authority for which there has been public as well as clinical and academic support. We throw that away at our peril.

I put it to the Minister in Committee that we could not move to an interim authority for health regulatory research and believe that we could maintain continuity and credibility within the research communities both here and abroad. Unless we establish the health research agency, we will lose ground. It is too important an area for us simply to say, “Well, we'll wait and see’. In his incredibly helpful letter to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, the Minister referred to setting up an interim authority. However, in Committee, I proposed to my noble friend that a new clause be inserted in the Health and Social Care Bill to set up the paving legislation for the new regulatory research agency. My noble friend makes it clear in his letter to the noble Baroness that that Bill is now on hold for a while for a variety of reasons. Surely this is an excellent opportunity for the draftsmen to put into that Bill a clause which enables the agency to be set up. At one fell swoop, an early place in the legislative timetable—literally within the next six months could be given to an agency that all of us agree needs to be in place. Amendment 9 offers the Minister the opportunity to respond positively today and we could go ahead with those proposals.

The second part of Amendment 9 deals with the incredibly important business of an ethics committee. Many people who are not involved in the ethical consideration of these issues believe that this is somehow a sop or an add-on. It is not; it is fundamental to maintaining confidence in the research frameworks and the regulatory authorities. I hope that when my noble friend the Minister responds to the amendment he will give us clear direction on how the new agency will have an ethics organisation which meets the aspirations not only of this House but of the research and clinical communities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Wigley]

My Lords, before the Bill passes, perhaps I may add a caveat to some of the comments that have been made. I immediately recognise that the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, and the government Front Bench have made concessions on a number of aspects of the Bill, and people in the Forest of Dean and elsewhere will no doubt be very happy with what has happened. However, the noble Lord will not be surprised that my reservation concerns the fact that the uncertainties about the future of the Welsh television channel S4C have still not been resolved. There had been a hope of amendments being tabled at Third Reading. I understand the reasons why that was not allowed, although I recall the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, saying on 28 March that if any of the eight assurances that he was given were not fully delivered, he would want to bring the matter back at Third Reading. The fact is that the S4C authorities have indicated that, of those eight assurances, six are without substance. Therefore, on that occasion the amendment was not pressed to a vote on the basis of assurances which had not been given.

I do not want to go over old ground and I certainly accept that the Government have moved on a couple of points but, if the consultation with the National Assembly had taken place, it would have been very much more satisfactory from the outset. However, with the announcement today of a new chair for S4C—Huw Jones, whom we wish well—we would have hoped to see a line being drawn under many of these matters so that S4C could move forward with confidence. When the Bill goes to another place, three aspects will need to be resolved. The first is the constitutional position of S4C, the second is the safeguarding of S4C’s funding and the third is its right to make managerial decisions without people from the BBC sitting in on them.

On Wednesday, a report on this matter will be published by a Select Committee of another place and it will contain remarkable cross-party agreement on the unsatisfactory nature of this Bill. Therefore, I very much hope that, when the Bill goes to another place, the aspects that have not been addressed in your Lordships’ House will be addressed and we will have the same satisfaction regarding S4C as noble Lords have indicated they have with regard to other aspects of the Bill.

[Lord Newton of Braintree]

My Lords, I hope that it will be in the spirit of the debate—

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, before my noble friend makes what I know will be succinct and relevant remarks, as his remarks always are, perhaps I may remind the House of the guidance that Third Reading is not an opportunity for debate and that comments should be extremely brief.

[Lord Newton of Braintree]

I am tempted to sit down in view of that rebuke but I shall not do so. I only wanted to say, in a modest kind of way, that I know I have been a lot of trouble to my noble friends. I know that my noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach has been incredibly patient and understanding with me and I say to the Chief Whip that I really did not want to do anything more than be nice to him. Is that allowed? He has done a great job in helping us as a House to do our job, and he has produced the near-miracle—I speak in the presence of a number of ministerial colleagues—of bringing about a Bill that leaves the House shorter than it entered. Can anyone think of a government Bill that went anywhere and ended up shorter when it finished than when it began? That is a near-miracle. My noble friend has brought it limping into port with its superstructure destroyed and most of its cargo dumped, but at least he has got it there. He has contributed to the worst defeat of Henry VIII at the hands of the barons in 500 years, but unfortunately I do not think that it is yet the Waterloo. Henry is regrouping in Whitehall, hoping to find some mercenaries and commoners to come to his aid, and your Lordships may yet have more work to do. Meanwhile, my noble friend and many of his colleagues have done a fantastic job for us with patience, courtesy and understanding, as well as, I think, working behind the scenes to good effect, and I add my thanks to those of others.

Bill passed and sent to the Commons.