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 councils dedication
to that task. However, the framework legislation that sets out the
HACs 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hearing aid dispensers is outdated and in need of modernisation, to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 bodythe Consumer and Trading Standards Agencyby
April 2009. After considering the Hampton reports
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 HPCs 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.
Private
hearing aid dispensers will benefit from a considerable reduction in
their annual registration fee. Currently, for the year ending 31 March
2010, dispensers
are required to pay £695, whereas the annual fee for regulation
with the HPC for the same period is £76. The HPC benefits from
significant economies of scale, with more than 200,000 registrants,
compared with only 1,700 on the HACs register. By
abolishing the HAC, we will also reduce the overall number of
regulators, thus resulting in a small reduction in public expenditure,
as we will no longer need to support the councils running
costs.
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 professions 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
individuals 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 HACs 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 HACs 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 Committees 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
Governments 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 HACs 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
peoples expertise. On high street regulation, such views are
being taken into
account.
Question
put and agreed
to.
9.8
am
Committee
rose.