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Health and Social Care Bill

I do not think that there is any evidence to suggest that. Indeed, in her exchange with my noble friend Lord Patel, the noble Baroness suggested that, because he had been given assurances verbally, they would not carry any weight. That is unfair and not quite how we normally conduct our exchanges. I hope that she does not mind me saying that. However, I agree with her about the advertisements, and indeed we discussed the issue yesterday. My noble friend Lord Darzi explained that an apology had been made, the readvertisement had been launched, and the whole thing had been put on a different track. That assurance has been given by my noble friend and I hope that we can now move on to the discussion we are holding this evening. The commission will, of course, need expertise in particular areas. It may decide to set up committees with responsibility for specific matters. We envisage that much of this expertise will transfer from the current commissions, and the new body will build on this. The current commissions have developed excellent ways of working. Noble Lords have mentioned that on many occasions, and it is indeed the case. Engaging with those who use services and employing improved methodologies will inform and enhance the work of the new commission. Moreover, as my noble friend Lord Darzi said at Second Reading, we attach great importance to the role currently played by the Mental Health Act Commission. We will work with all three commissions to ensure that the body is effective at protecting the rights of all vulnerable groups under its remit. This will include those detained under the Mental Health Act, and we will stress how important it is that the skills and expertise required to carry out the Mental Health Act’s statutory functions, including visiting arrangements, are retained in the new body. We have made provision for the commission to set up the committees and sub-committees that it feels are necessary for the effective discharge of these functions. However, we believe it is important that the commission, as an independent body, should be allowed to use these provisions flexibly rather than have imposed on it structures that it may not find useful. Here, I refer to our earlier discussion when noble Lords were concerned about the independence of the commission. This is an important element of its independence. It will need to work out what kind of bodies it should set up internally. I hope that I have been able to reassure noble Lords that we take this matter extremely seriously. The provisions in the Bill are intended to give the new body the flexibility and independence to establish itself in a way that allows it to carry out its functions most effectively. I think that the commission would be wise to look at the proposals set out in the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher. They seem to be a very sensible way forward in terms of dealing with the mental health provisions that she talked about so eloquently. With that, I hope that Amendment No. 25 will be withdrawn.