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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is absolutely right. For example, I know Peterborough and Waveney PCTs a bit. They are not dissimilar in size, yet one of them has twice as many women receiving treatment. The noble Baroness is right to say that the statistics are incomplete; I wish that I had had the time or the notice to do proper research on this. None the less, it is clear to me from the evidence that we have that there is a postcode lottery, that finances are a bar to many women seeking treatment and that those who do seek treatment in the private sector are exposed to the risk of exploitation as well as to the risk of multiple pregnancies. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, hit it on the head when he said that this is a gentler version of the amendment moved in Committee. It is a gentler strengthening of the wish to see this information made available and a gentler way of bringing more and more PCTs into best practice as recommended by NICE. On behalf of the two noble Baronesses who are absent this evening though inescapable family commitments, I ask my noble friend whether she would be willing to accept at Third Reading an amendment giving the Government permissive power by regulation to do this if, as and when the expert group would like such a power? In other words, if the expert group is to report in, say, one or two years’ time—I do not know the timetable—and wished to have this power available to it, would it be able to call for reports to the strategic authority without needing either primary or secondary legislation? If it needed secondary legislation, I urge my noble friend to consider whether she would bring forward an amendment—or encourage the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, to do so—giving a permissive power, by regulation, to do what could be necessary if, in due course, the expert group recommends it. Can my noble friend help me here or would she prefer to write at some point in future?