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Health and Social Care Bill

Amendments Nos. 62 to 64 and 143 are Government amendments, so I shall speak to them first. Amendments Nos. 62 and 65 are significant and will be of particular interest to the House. On amendment No. 62, clause 2 ensures that the commission must have regard in everything it does to the public's views on the services that fall within its remit, and to their levels of satisfaction with those services. The clause received a great deal of attention when the Bill was considered in Committee. User and carer involvement in the commission's work was also a recurring theme, and hon. Members from both main Opposition parties tabled amendments on that issue. As I have made clear on a number of occasions, the Government believe that involving and listening to users, patients, their carers and the public will be a central responsibility for the new commission. The Bill already requires the commission to appoint an advisory committee, and we will expect the commission actively to involve patients and service users as well as others with an interest, such as service providers and commissioners. There will be a wide range of bodies with an interest in a particular issue or representing particular groups, and we want to ensure that the commission hears their views. For that reason, Government amendment No. 62 proposes to make it explicit that a duty to have regard to the views of the public includes views expressed by representative bodies on behalf of members of the public. That requires the commission to engage with those acting on behalf of members of the public; that might include local involvement networks, charities or other representative groups. I hope that hon. Members will recognise that the proposed measures are a valuable addition to the Bill that will address their concerns and indeed go further, and I hope that they can accept the amendment. Amendments Nos. 63, 64, 66, 67 and 143 are minor technical amendments designed to ensure consistency in drafting with the Care Standards Act 2000, which will continue to apply to children's services and services in Wales. Amendment No. 65 is another significant amendment. When we considered the Bill in Committee, the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) tabled an amendment to oblige the commission to publish its inspection reports. I said that I would be happy to consider the matter, and amendment No. 65 is our response to that commitment. Clause 57 requires the commission to produce a report when it undertakes an inspection and to send a copy to the provider or manager in question. As it stands, the clause allows the commission to choose whether to publish the report. As I said in Committee, there is no explicit duty on the current commission to publish reports either, although it normally makes them available online. However, I made it clear that I agree absolutely that the public should have access to the commission's inspection findings. Having had the opportunity to review the drafting, I am happy to introduce amendment No. 65, which will oblige the commission to publish its inspection reports. I trust that hon. Members will feel able to accept the amendment. Amendment No. 68 is a consequential amendment that relates to section 134(6) of the Mental Health Act 1983. It will update a reference to section 121 of that Act. It is necessary because the relevant part of section 121 will be replaced, through schedule 3 of the Bill, by proposed new clause 134A. Amendments Nos. 69 to 74 are minor consequential amendments, necessitated by the Bill, to the list in schedule 5. I turn to amendment No. 142, the only Opposition amendment in the group. It seeks to allow the Secretary of State to specify in regulations specific circumstances in which the Care Quality Commission would be required to carry out additional inspections; such regulations could be made only after consultation with the commission itself. As I said in Committee, I understand the intention behind the amendment—that is, to allow an ability to set specific triggers for the commission to carry out additional inspections. However, clause 57 already allows regulations to prescribe important aspects of inspection if necessary; there is no need to be more prescriptive. The Care Quality Commission will be established as an intelligent regulator. It will take account of a whole range of information to assess risks in respect of providers and the services that they provide. Based on that, it will decide when and how frequently to visit providers and which issues require more detailed investigation. That will build on the approach already being developed by existing regulators to target inspection when action is required. It will therefore not be for the Secretary of State, but for the commission, on the basis of its intelligence, to determine the appropriate triggers for inspections over and above what is set out in regulations. I invite the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) to withdraw the amendment.