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Epilepsy Services

I am grateful for being allowed to speak briefly in this debate. I had not intended to do so, but I am so pleased with the way that the hon. Member for Calder Valley (Chris McCafferty) has introduced it, and particularly with the report prepared by the all-party epilepsy group, that I should like to speak briefly in the hope that I can contribute to the debate. Sadly, I shall not be able to remain until the end, and I apologise to other Members and the Minister for that; it is due not to impoliteness, but to pressure of timetable. As I said in my earlier intervention, the National Society for Epilepsy is based in Chalfont St. Peter in my constituency. I immediately issue an invitation—on behalf of Graham Faulkner and everybody else, I am sure—to anybody with an interest in the issues to visit and see the great work carried out by Mr. Faulkner and his dedicated team of professionals. The society has been called a colony in the past; it has been operating for more than 100 years and is a site dedicated to people suffering from epilepsy. It provides not only the research and assessment facilities that I referred to, but specialist residential care for those who require it. As the Minister will appreciate, this is a Cinderella issue. The hon. Member for Calder Valley alluded to that, as did the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) in her intervention—[Interruption.] I apologise; I meant the intervention made by the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon).