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Health and Social Care Bill

I apologise to the Committee for arriving late and therefore for not hearing all the interventions. I have taken part in debates on most of the rest of the Bill, so may I be forgiven and be allowed to intervene on this amendment? I regret not having heard the noble Earl, Lord Howe, who usually informs my thinking. Perhaps he has not yet spoken. One of my great concerns about the Bill is that we will have such regulation from the Secretary of State that the governing board and the executive of the new commission will not be able to take a strategic overview of what they find and will not be able to adapt and be flexible in their interventions and inspections in what will be a vast organisation. I speak particularly from my understanding of health and social care. I am not an expert in the health service, but I was one of the people who set up the National Care Standards Commission and who insisted that there were a number of unannounced inspections: people do now arrive on your doorstep. I am the chair of Liveability and know that at any moment you can expect someone to turn up on your doorstep on an unannounced visit, which means that you need quite properly to be on your toes most of the time. Some information is historical. When I joined the National Care Standards Commission, I remember that we were criticised heavily for the number of homes that closed. Quite honestly, none of us would have wanted anyone whom we cared for or loved—or even if we did not love them—to live in a number of those homes. Many of them were closed, and members of the Government and the Opposition criticised what happened at that time because of the diminishing number of establishments. At the moment, you will find on average that standards are reasonably good, if not excellent in many places. When Members have a complaint, they should ask to visit—you can visit—and ask the commission to observe the inspection. Indeed, inspections are published, so you can see what is happening. I only hope that as a result of the amendments we do not end up with a more restrictive regime that adds to the structure of the inspection, and that the new commission can put together an inspection in a way that responds to the new organisation and gives the best possible care to those for whom it will be responsible. Thank you for allowing me to intervene.