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Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) Order 2008

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, I feel humbled when I come to the Chamber and propose such orders. The wealth of experience and the quality of contributions is truly enlightening for me. The noble Lord, Lord Livsey, reminded us of the historic importance of the transfer of functions under the Government of Wales Act, which I did not mention in my somewhat lengthy introduction to the order. I welcome his support for it and am grateful that the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, took the time to examine the proposed transfer with his eagle eye and give us the benefit of his analysis. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, for his reassurance that my honourable friend in the other place was able to answer his colleague’s questions adequately. My noble friend Lord Jones was concerned to find out if there had been payments for good will made following the sale of premises or property owned by GPs’ practices. No such payment has been made for good will, precisely because this is about ruling out such payments. I offer further clarification to my noble friend: the good will that we are talking about is the value of what a GP practice may own other than tangible assets such as premises and equipment. For example, good will may be derived from the provision of an out-of-hours service, additional or enhanced services or non-medical business assets. Good will relates to the intangible factors that give a practice a good reputation and encourage patients to register with that practice. We are also talking about the issuing of a certificate to show that there has been no sale of good will: that is the important point. I hope that noble Lords will agree to the order. I commend it to the House. On Question, Motion agreed to.