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Health Bill [Lords]

The Minister is right—we might have a little fun, but only for a few moments because I do not want to delay matters. I thank him for the letter of 2 October to my colleague, informing the official Opposition that the Department had found the mistake—three years after it was included in the measure; the Minister forgot to mention how long it had taken. However, he is right that the provision was not intended to be in the 2006 measure—I have looked through the work that took place long before I joined the Front Bench to ascertain how the Bill went through. He should be commended on his intention to continue the previous Conservative Government’s work on optical vouchers. I noted the Minister’s comment that the shadow Secretary of State had taken part in proceedings on the Bill and that perhaps he should have picked up the mistake. Not quite as many lawyers work for Her Majesty’s Opposition as for the Department of Health. While we are having a bit of banter, let me point out that the hon. Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron), now a Minister in the Department, was the Whip on the Bill. One therefore wonders whether the Bill that we are considering today, about which she may comment—she served on the Committee—has had the same sort of scrutiny that took place in 2006. After that bit of banter, we accept that a mistake was made three years ago and that the Government are changing the legislation at the first opportunity.