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Health and Social Care Bill

Amendments Nos. 226 and 227, grouped here in my name, are designed for a purpose identical to that of Amendment No. 90. I simply add my firm support for everything which the noble Baroness has just said. It is not for the Secretary of State to fetter the operational freedom of the commission in relation to special reviews. If the commission decides to limit its work to certain areas during the first few months of its existence, that should surely be a matter for it. Once Ministers start saying that they will not allow the CQC its statutory functions in a manner that the chief executive believes to be necessary, we are into some very unwelcome political manipulation of a kind which Ministers have foresworn in our debates up to this point. I hope that the Minister will reassure us on this important point of principle.