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Health and Social Care Bill

Briefly, although I can see where it comes from, I do not believe that the silo argument holds water. That is because we have a silo buster built in here in the form of the commission itself. It will be its job to integrate the work of its sub-committees, as happens on the board of almost every organisation of which one has had experience. Although I give some weight to the staff and security argument, the obvious debating point is that if the Bill were to be withdrawn tomorrow, that would be the end of staff insecurity. The Bill is causing the insecurity and making people think about leaving, although in my experience fewer people actually leave than those who talk about doing so. Towards the end of the Minister’s remarks, I thought that she might be leading up to giving me some comfort, but that turned out not to be the case. She gave some comfort to the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, who spoke to Amendment No. 93, suggesting that a sub-committee for mental issues might be on the cards, but she offered no encouragement of the kind that I asked for; that is, for the commission to set up a sub-committee on social care. Without that encouragement to set up a sub-committee, the fears that have rebounded around the Committee that this is a downgrading of social care will not be dispelled, however many ministerial warm words are poured over us. That is enough for tonight, but not enough for our full consideration of the Bill. We will return to the issue. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 26 not moved.] On Question, Whether Clause 2 shall stand part of the Bill?