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Health and Social Care Bill

I thank the Minister for those remarks, but I do not agree at all. She said that she wanted parity between lay and professional members. My amendment does not say there should not be parity; all it is saying is that there should be some elected members. I do not go along with the view that you have an electorate that you are going to be worrying about. My point is that those ordinary dentists are selected by other practitioners because of their knowledge. They will not necessarily be put forward for appointment—it might never cross their minds to apply to an ad in the paper—but they are persuaded by colleagues that they are people who can help the profession. The Minister talked about helping the public. That is why it is important to have people in particular who are involved in NHS practice: they are confronting issues that are quite different from other issues. It is in the interests of the public and patients to have what I am suggesting—a very small number of representative people. The Minister talked about moving away because of conflicts of interest. I do not think any of that is accurate. As regards a ““new transparency””—what is transparent about these appointments? We have seen all the appointments to the House of Lords done by one of these special appointments commissions. We were told we were going to have ““people’s Peers””; we expected a hairdresser and a postman, and yet the only postman we have ever had here, as far as I know, is that hereditary man from Tasmania who came over to take his seat. The people who arrived from the Peers’ list were the people we would have expected to see anyhow—the great and the good, or at least the good. I think that the panels, no matter how transparent, are lacking in this respect. Ordinary dentists in general practice, who have a pretty rotten job and work very hard, will be rather upset that they will have no say at all in the people who are sitting on their governing body. As far as I am concerned, over the years the governing body has always been as obstructive as possible, particularly to national health dentistry. It has not been helpful. Time after time motions have been brought before the General Dental Council and it has found them inconvenient—even the amendment that I will move later—mainly because it is an extra lot of bother for it if it does not want to know about it and violently opposes it. Ordinary dentists will be able to call the General Dental Council—or whatever it is to be called, I imagine it will have the same name—to account. I would like to think about what the Minister has said. I appreciate her comments. I hope to have an opportunity to talk to her and perhaps to convince her between now and Report. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.