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House of Commons
Session 2009 - 10
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Public Bill Committee Debates



The Committee consisted of the following Members:

Chairman: Mr. David Amess
Bacon, Mr. Richard (South Norfolk) (Con)
Bain, Mr. William (Glasgow, North-East) (Lab)
Cunningham, Mr. Jim (Coventry, South) (Lab)
Fallon, Mr. Michael (Sevenoaks) (Con)
Gardiner, Barry (Brent, North) (Lab)
Holloway, Mr. Adam (Gravesham) (Con)
Jones, Helen (Vice-Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household)
Keen, Ann (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health)
Lamb, Norman (North Norfolk) (LD)
Lloyd, Tony (Manchester, Central) (Lab)
Milton, Anne (Guildford) (Con)
Mulholland, Greg (Leeds, North-West) (LD)
Raynsford, Mr. Nick (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)
Starkey, Dr. Phyllis (Milton Keynes, South-West) (Lab)
Wicks, Malcolm (Croydon, North) (Lab)
Wilson, Mr. Rob (Reading, East) (Con)
Mark Oxborough, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee

Eighth Delegated Legislation Committee

Thursday 3 December 2009

[Mr. David Amess in the Chair]

Draft Health Professions (Hearing Aid Dispensers) Order 2009
8.55 am
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ann Keen): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Health Professions (Hearing Aid Dispensers) Order 2009.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Amess.
The order makes provision for the transfer of the register of hearing aid dispensers from the Hearing Aid Council to the Health Professions Council and provides for the abolition of the Hearing Aid Council after it has completed its affairs. We believe that the legislation will bring real benefits to hearing impaired people. The HAC has regulated the private hearing aid profession for over 40 years, and I am sure that hon. Members wish to acknowledge the council’s dedication to that task. However, the framework legislation that sets out the HAC’s powers and duties in respect of the regulation of private hearing aid dispensers is outdated and in need of modernisation, to prevent gaps in patient protection from emerging.
The background to the proposed transfer of functions is that the Hampton report on regulatory inspections and enforcement recommended in 2005 that the overall number of regulatory authorities be rationalised. As part of its recommendations, it called for the merger of the HAC into a new body—the Consumer and Trading Standards Agency—by April 2009. After considering the Hampton report’s recommendations, the Government reached the view that the HPC was best placed to regulate private hearing aid dispensers. The HPC, which was established in 2001, has a modern legislative framework that provides it with more comprehensive powers and duties that will enhance protection to patients and the public. The HPC’s operating model is tried and tested, and as a multi-professional regulator, it has expertise in dealing with a range of different health professions. I am confident that it can regulate private hearing aid dispensers effectively.
A transfer of the register of private hearing aid dispensers to the HPC will deliver benefits to all concerned. Employers of private hearing aid dispensers will no longer need to register, as they currently do, with the HAC. That will reduce the regulatory burden on businesses and bring them into line with other employers, which are regulated under consumer protection legislation, such as the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Employers will also make savings, as they will no longer have to pay an annual registration fee.
Most importantly, hearing-impaired people will be better protected by a well organised and highly respected regulator with enhanced powers. The HAC can take action against a practitioner only when harm has occurred, whereas the HPC will have the power to remove a practitioner from the register before any harm takes place, on the grounds that someone is likely to present a risk to the public. The HPC sets standards of education and training, performance and conduct and is overseen by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, which provides external assurance that the HPC is undertaking its duties effectively through its annual performance review process. An annual report on the performance of all the health care profession’s regulators is published on its website.
The draft order will effect the transfer of the register of private hearing aid dispensers held by the HAC to the register held by the HPC, create a new offence relating to the dispensing of hearing aids by unregistered persons, abolish the HAC and make arrangements for the cessation of its functions and make transitional arrangements in respect of uncleared HAC casework at the point of transfer. The HPC will, for the first time, protect function as well as title. The title “hearing aid dispenser” will be protected as it is currently, but in future, any person not registered with the HPC who performs the functions of a hearing aid dispenser will commit an offence. Protected functions will be assessing or testing an individual’s hearing, or prescribing a hearing aid for an individual, with a view to supplying a hearing aid to, or for the use of, that individual.
The proposed transfer of the register of private hearing aid dispensers from the HAC to the HPC will take effect on 1 April 2010. All the private hearing aid dispensers on the HAC’s register on that date will be automatically transferred to the register held by the HPC. Both the HAC and the HPC fully support the transfer and are working closely together to ensure as smooth a transition process as possible. Both councils have worked together to develop standards of proficiency, which the dispensers will be required to meet after the transfer.
The Department of Health has undertaken a full public consultation exercise on the draft order, as is required by the Health Act 1999. There were 32 respondents to the consultation and the responses were in general very supportive of the proposal: 97 per cent. of respondents supported the proposal to transfer the HAC’s functions to another body and supported the HPC as the most appropriate regulator of the dispensers.
I commend the order to the Committee.
9.2 am
Anne Milton (Guildford) (Con): May I also say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Amess?
I will not delay the Committee any longer than necessary, because this is generally uncontroversial stuff. I should like to join the Minister in paying tribute to the HAC, which has done an excellent job over the years, although it is refreshing that the fees will decrease from £695 to £76. Almost no legislative change, or change anywhere, results in a dramatic decrease in costs; normally, costs go up.
As the Minister has said, there is widespread support for the proposal. A consultation that shows 97 per cent. support for much of a proposal is very good. Even at worst, the support drops only to 72 per cent. The list of respondents shows that most of the organisations that will be affected have joined in the consultation.
The only point that I would make is that there are good and bad regulations. There is a danger these days that we regulate and everyone automatically assumes that regulation is good and performs the functions that is was designed for, but that is not always so. I urge the Minister with this order, as with everything, to keep under review whether the regulation is effective.
Without wanting to try your patience, Mr. Amess, I would say that the one respondent that leapt from the list at me was the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, which is currently undergoing a consultation. Unlike those involved in the dispensing of hearing aids, the association is not at all happy about the proposals for regulation. Although the order before us deals with a demonstrably smooth, approved of and welcomed change, that is not the case with other regulation. I hope that the Minister will take note of that fact.
I do not want to try the Committee’s patience any longer, so I will simply say that I am very happy to support the order.
9.4 am
Greg Mulholland (Leeds, North-West) (LD): May I also say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Amess?
I echo the sentiments expressed by the hon. Member for Guildford. We agree with the change. How refreshing to consider a statutory instrument that is self-evidently commonsensical, particularly early on a Thursday morning.
I want to make a couple of very quick points. It is notable that the HAC wants to abolish itself. That is unusual, but very refreshing in its honesty. It is a little bit like turkeys voting for Christmas; but let us face it, if turkeys want to vote for Christmas, who are we to say that they should not do so?
The Minister has outlined what she calls strengthened regulatory powers. Has the fact that some dispensers are primarily retailers, as opposed to traditional health care providers, been built into the Government’s thinking? Will the HPC have the correct steps to deal with that rather different sort of provider, as we are talking about including high street dispensers?
The HAC is being abolished willingly. Nevertheless, it is clear that no staff or equipment will be passed on to the HPC. Have the Government considered the future of those staff and perhaps helping them to find appropriate roles, given all their experience and all that they have done?
Finally, I echo the words of both the Minister and the hon. Member for Guildford: I, too, pay tribute to the HAC’s work and all that it has done up to this point.
9.7 am
Ann Keen: I note the comments that the hon. Member for Guildford made about psychotherapists. Of course, the views of staff have been taken into account at all times. The staff have taken their role, past and present, very seriously, and we would not want to lose people’s expertise. On high street regulation, such views are being taken into account.
Question put and agreed to.
9.8 am
Committee rose.
 
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