---

Health and Social Care Bill

I understand absolutely what the noble Baroness is saying in that response. I have no problem with the Secretary of State having some influence and involvement. Anyone who has worked in any authority knows that, ultimately, you have paymasters and you have to work with them, which works quite well. I am concerned about the implication that, because the regulator may not be proportionate in its regulation—which is what the reply suggested—the Secretary of State would therefore need to have oversight, which is very unfortunate. If anyone knows about the usages and the work of providers at the local level, it is the regulators through their regulatory inspections. I only hope that that was not implied in the noble Baroness’s response.