16 Mar 2011 : Column 360
Kerry McCarthy: I will turn in a moment to the pledge about the stabiliser. The hon. Member for Worcester (Mr Walker) called for it to be implemented very soon, as did the hon. Member for Devizes (Claire Perry), who is no longer in her place.
Tessa Munt: Does the hon. Lady agree that the Minister will be very generous in seeing representatives of the FairFuelUK campaign, who have 140,000 signatures on their petition as of today? That is organised by Peter Carroll. The chief executives of the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association and the operations director of the RAC, together with Quentin Willson, the motor journalist, and I, coming from a hard-hit rural constituency, will discuss this tomorrow. We are suffering the double whammy of domestic oil and fuel oil—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): Order. This is supposed to be an intervention, not an opportunity to make another speech or to put out an advert.
Kerry McCarthy: I would not expect any less of the Minister, as she certainly should be meeting the organisations. It is a shame that the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury were not also here today to listen to people.
The hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) talked about his election leaflets hounding his constituents about the fuel duty stabiliser. He referred to the work that Conservative central office had put into the policy, which he described as a well-thought-out policy from before the election that will be implemented shortly. I may disabuse him of that delusion a bit later in my speech.
The hon. Member for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills) talked about the impact in rural areas and the fact that people could not afford to go to work, and he urged the Chancellor not to go ahead with the fuel duty escalator. My hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) ventured further afield and discussed the impact of fuel poverty on people who were having to spend more than 10% of their income on heating their homes, saying that what the Government are doing across the board is likely to push more people into fuel poverty. It was a very thoughtful speech.
The hon. Member for Bristol West (Stephen Williams) talked about petrol prices in Bristol. I am sure that one of the few things on which we can agree is that Bristol desperately needs to sort out its transport issues and develop a better public transport system. It has the worst congestion of any city in the country, and we need to address that. The hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil)—did I pronounce that correctly?
Kerry McCarthy: Almost. The hon. Gentleman talked about the rural fuel derogation, but I do not think that he got an answer from the Economic Secretary. He asked when the pilot in the Outer Hebrides would happen and whether he could have more details.
The hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson) went on a bit of a flight of fancy about the Economic Secretary engaging people in head-locks and bare-knuckle fighting, which, I am afraid, she missed. He then expressed
16 Mar 2011 : Column 361
disappointment that we had had no softening up from her—I am not sure where he was going with that. However, he also spoke evocatively about the impact of the fuel price rise on his Northern Ireland constituents.
The hon. Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) accused the Labour party of shameless opportunism in speaking up for constituents and trying to address the impact on hard-hit motorists. What I would describe as shameless is the Conservative party’s leading people to believe before the election that it could cut 10p off the price of petrol and then doing nothing about it.
Mr MacNeil: Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?
Kerry McCarthy: I am sorry, but I have no time to allow any more interventions.
We heard today that unemployment has now risen to more than 2.5 million. Another 27,000 people have been added to the dole queue in the past three months. Those who are in work find their income squeezed by the rising cost of living, with inflation surging over 5%, but average wages growing by just 2.3% and many in the public sector facing a cut in real terms. People are struggling to make ends meet.
This month, the Office for National Statistics added iPhone apps and online dating fees to its RPI shopping basket—I am not sure what was in its RIP shopping basket. The ONS believes that essentials such as food and fuel now make up an increasing proportion of the average family spend. Of course, we have heard today that the price of fuel is rising fast. A litre of fuel is now £1.32, which is up 7p from the beginning of the year. That is an extra £80 for the average driver.
We accept that the Government cannot control the price of oil. We understand that the turmoil in the middle east and north Africa is having an impact on global prices. However, the Government are not powerless. They have a choice. They could choose to help working families get through the tough times, or to carry on regardless down their reckless path of cuts, which are too fast and too deep, slashing support for families and putting the recovery at risk.
The Government have made the wrong choice. The Chancellor chose to raise VAT to 20%, which hits low and middle-income families hardest and has pushed up the prices of fuel, energy and food and, as we have heard, has hurt businesses, too.
George Freeman: Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?
Kerry McCarthy: I am afraid that I do not have time.
Before the election, when a litre of petrol was 12p cheaper than it is now, the Conservative party said that it would consult on the fair fuel stabiliser. It said that it would ensure that families, businesses and the whole British economy were less exposed to volatile oil markets. The Prime Minister said that he would help with the cost of living by trying to give a flatter, more constant rate for filling up the car. The Chancellor said that that would be delivered in the Government’s first Budget. It was not. Conservatives led voters to believe that they could and would act. However, we now face the exact problem that the policy was designed to prevent. Rising oil prices have pushed up fuel prices at the pump beyond £6 a gallon, yet there is no sign of the fair fuel stabiliser. Not
16 Mar 2011 : Column 362
only that, but the Government have added nearly 3p to the price of a litre of petrol with their VAT rise this year.
The Government need to come clean about whether they will move ahead with the stabiliser and answer the criticisms of a host of commentators, who said that the idea would never work because rising oil prices do not necessarily lead to higher tax revenues. They include the Office for Budget Responsibility, the new head of which said that its analysis suggested that a fair fuel stabiliser was likely to make the public finances less rather than more stable, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which said that the claim that the Treasury receives a windfall gain that it can share with motorists when oil prices rise is incorrect. Even the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills said before the election that the fair fuel stabiliser would be “unbelievably complicated and unpredictable”.
The Government are no closer to introducing the fuel duty stabiliser now than they were a year ago. Rather than teasing the public and dangling the prospect before them, the Government need to nail their colours to the mast and tell us what they intend to do. Labour believes that the Government should reverse their VAT rise on fuels and reconsider the fuel duty escalator rise, which is due in April. In government, Labour often postponed fuel duty increases when oil prices were rising and families felt the pinch. It was clearly the right thing to do then and we urge the Government to reconsider now.
Obviously, there is a balance to be struck between raising revenue and ensuring that ordinary people who are trying to get on with their lives—earn a living, get the kids to school, get to work on time—are not unfairly penalised. For some, driving is a choice and they can cut down on their journeys when petrol prices increase, but what about those who rely on their cars every day and do not have the option of using public transport because the bus and rail services simply are not there, or those who run small businesses, or the self-employed who need to run vehicles as part of their work?
Ordinary working people did not create the global economic crisis; it began in the financial sector. However, under this Government, it is ordinary working people who are paying the price. The Government are taking away more money from families with children than they are asking for from the banks that caused the problem in the first place. The bank levy is expected to raise £2.5 billion, but the last Budget and the spending review took nearly £5 billion from families with children through cuts to child benefit, child tax credits and other measures. The Government have refused to repeat the bank bonus tax that Labour introduced last year, which raised £3.5 billion and could be expected to raise another £2 billion this year.
We believe that the bank levy, which is expected to raise £800 million more this year than was originally predicted, could be used to pay for a reversal of the VAT rise on fuel. That would be the right thing to do: helping people when times are hard, getting the economy moving again and asking the financial sector to pay its fair share. Asking ordinary people to pay and hitting them where it hurts most is the wrong choice. Government Members can try to pass the buck and blame the EU for their failure to act, but the fact is that they have a choice. They could choose to help ordinary working people in the Budget next week. I urge Members to support the motion.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 363
3.51 pm
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke): This has been a helpful debate. There is little doubt that the cost of living and the rising price of fuel are difficult issues that affect all our constituents. I thank my hon. Friends who raised issues from their constituencies, in particular my hon. Friends the Members for Worcester (Mr Walker), for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills), for Bristol West (Stephen Williams), for Devizes (Claire Perry), for Rugby (Mark Pawsey), for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) and for Dover (Charlie Elphicke).
When times are hard, things are clearly very difficult, and we understand that people want us to do something. We have to address the deficit. The plans that we inherited were not credible. One plan announced by the previous Government was to increase fuel duty six times over the course of the next few years. The Chancellor will, of course, update the House next week on our plans on all tax matters. I am sure that the points that have been raised today will be fully taken into account.
I will focus on one particular Opposition proposal: the suggested cut in VAT on road fuel. In advance of a Budget, the Opposition seek to find a popular and eye-catching policy to get some headlines and broadcast time. One can imagine the enthusiasm of the shadow Chancellor when he told the Leader of the Opposition of his cunning plan. He wanted to use the money from a tax on unpopular people—our bank levy—to reduce costs for motorists. However, rather than the obvious proposal of reversing fuel duty increases, which might have been a little awkward for the Labour party, he proposed to focus on VAT on fuel, and in so doing to distract attention from the fact that Labour is dropping its opposition to other parts of the VAT increase.
Mr MacNeil: I am grateful to the Minister. I did try to intervene on the Opposition spokesman. I wonder whether the Minister is aware that 37 days ago, on 7 February, there was a debate in this House calling for action on fuel prices, and Labour MPs abstained.
Mr Gauke: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point.
With the new policy prepared, how could the shadow Chancellor’s plan possibly fail? An interview round was done on Sunday, a press conference was booked for Monday, and an Opposition day was planned for today—I believe by moving aside other plans. However, let us consider what happened. So quickly did the flagship policy of a cut to VAT on fuel unravel that the shadow Chief Secretary, in her 32-minute speech, completely skipped over it. She did not want to discuss it for a moment. What went wrong? The starting point, of course, is that the funds identified by the shadow Chancellor are a one-off amount of £800 million that is available this year from the bank levy. There are no funding plans for future years. Of course, the bank levy should be spent in myriad ways, according to the Labour party—I think it has committed it 10 times over.
Let us turn to how a VAT reduction on fuel duty would be achieved. As has been pointed out, the operation of VAT by EU member states has always been restricted by EU-wide rules. Of particular relevance is the fact that reduced rates may apply to certain specified items, but road fuel is not among them. Under the current rules in the relevant EU directive, we simply cannot do it.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 364
Today’s motion states that we should seek a derogation, and the shadow Chancellor has said that France has obtained a derogation with regard to restaurants. That is correct, and it is perhaps worth describing the process required to obtain a derogation—unless, of course, Labour Members wish to leave the EU. That would liven up the debate, but I do not think that that is their position. If they wanted a derogation, there would have to be discussions with the European Commission, which would have to be persuaded to make a proposal. Each and every member state would have to agree to that proposal, and there would also have to be consultation with the European Parliament.
It is true that a new agreement was reached in 2009 on the list of excepted activities, but that agreement took nearly seven years from start to finish. There is no guarantee of success, either. Opposition Members dismiss the European situation, but they sought derogations to achieve lower rates of VAT for listed places of worship and green energy-saving materials. They were unsuccessful, and they abided by the decision. The VAT directive currently allows derogations only on the grounds of simplification or the prevention of avoidance or abuse, so the chances of success are slim. The shadow Chancellor’s position today is that we should begin a lengthy, and almost certainly unsuccessful, attempt to obtain a derogation that may result in our being able to reduce VAT on fuel in six or seven years.
That is not quite what the shadow Chancellor has been saying recently. On 27 February, on the “Politics Show”, he said in respect of additional VAT on road fuel that the Chancellor
“should say I will reverse that now.”
In The Sun on 28 February, he stated that the Chancellor should “act now”. Again on the “Politics Show”, on 13 March, he said:
“The VAT rise he could reverse immediately and I think he should.”
The same morning, on Sky News, he called on the Chancellor to
“act immediately on VAT…on Wednesday we’ll be urging Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs to join with us in voting in parliament to urge the Chancellor, cut VAT on fuel now and give immediate relief to hauliers and motorists across the country.”
When he says “immediate relief” and that we should not wait until the Budget and that we should “act now”, what he really means is that we should start a lengthy process that just might, possibly, with a bit of luck and with the consent of 26 other member states, mean that we could take some action in about 2018. As an example of immediate action to help hard-pressed British motorists, that is somewhat lacking in effectiveness.
The cynical view is that the shadow Chancellor knew that that policy would not work, but it was enough for him to have something to say to get in the media. The cynics will point out his vast experience in the Treasury—he is, after all, a man with a past. How, they will ask, could he possibly be so incompetent? I think those cynics are being unfair to him. He could be that incompetent. After all, he has told us that he wants to cut VAT to help hauliers, but hauliers can reclaim VAT. He has talked about the cutting of VAT on fuel in the 1990s, but in fact that was domestic fuel. He has talked about asking for a VAT cut on fuel in rural areas, but now asks for a derogation on fuel duty.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 365
If the Labour party is to have a shadow Chancellor who does not understand the tax system and who makes embarrassing mistakes, they would do a lot better with the previous one, who at least did that with a certain amount of charm. Only at the weekend, the current shadow Chancellor told The Guardian:
“My task is to rebuild Labour’s economic credibility, but that won’t happen in a week”.
That will certainly not happen this week. In a desperate attempt to have something to say on a matter of genuine concern, he has come up with a risible policy that is unfunded from next year and that cannot be implemented for years, if at all.
Once again the Labour party has demonstrated that on economic matters, it lacks credibility and competence, and I urge the House to oppose the motion.
Question put (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the original words stand part of the Question.
The House divided:
Ayes 236, Noes 301.
[4 pm
AYES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Anderson, Mr David
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Banks, Gordon
Barron, rh Mr Kevin
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Benton, Mr Joe
Berger, Luciana
Betts, Mr Clive
Blackman-Woods, Roberta
Blears, rh Hazel
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Blunkett, rh Mr David
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burnham, rh Andy
Byrne, rh Mr Liam
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Chapman, Mrs Jenny
Clark, Katy
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coaker, Vernon
Coffey, Ann
Connarty, Michael
Cooper, Rosie
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Cunningham, Tony
Curran, Margaret
Dakin, Nic
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Mr Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Dobbin, Jim
Dobson, rh Frank
Docherty, Thomas
Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.
Donohoe, Mr Brian H.
Doran, Mr Frank
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Durkan, Mark
Eagle, Ms Angela
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Efford, Clive
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Esterson, Bill
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr Frank
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Fovargue, Yvonne
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gapes, Mike
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goggins, rh Paul
Goodman, Helen
Green, Kate
Griffith, Nia
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hamilton, Mr David
Hamilton, Fabian
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Havard, Mr Dai
Healey, rh John
Hendrick, Mark
Hepburn, Mr Stephen
Hermon, Lady
Heyes, David
Hillier, Meg
Hilling, Julie
Hodge, rh Margaret
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hood, Mr Jim
Hopkins, Kelvin
Hosie, Stewart
Hunt, Tristram
Irranca-Davies, Huw
James, Mrs Siân C.
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Helen
Jones, Mr Kevan
Jones, Susan Elan
Joyce, Eric
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Khan, rh Sadiq
Lammy, rh Mr David
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewis, Mr Ivan
Lloyd, Tony
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Ian
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
MacShane, rh Mr Denis
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Mr Khalid
Mahmood, Shabana
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonnell, Dr Alasdair
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs Anne
McKechin, Ann
McKinnell, Catherine
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Mearns, Ian
Michael, rh Alun
Miliband, rh Edward
Miller, Andrew
Mitchell, Austin
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Munn, Meg
Murphy, rh Mr Jim
Murphy, rh Paul
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Onwurah, Chi
Owen, Albert
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Pound, Stephen
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reeves, Rachel
Reynolds, Jonathan
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Robertson, Angus
Robertson, John
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Roy, Lindsay
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Joan
Seabeck, Alison
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Smith, Angela
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Straw, rh Mr Jack
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Tami, Mark
Thomas, Mr Gareth
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Trickett, Jon
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, rh Keith
Vaz, Valerie
Walley, Joan
Watts, Mr Dave
Weir, Mr Mike
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Wicks, rh Malcolm
Williams, Hywel
Williamson, Chris
Wilson, Phil
Wilson, Sammy
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wishart, Pete
Woodcock, John
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Tellers for the Ayes:
Lilian Greenwood and
Gregg McClymont
NOES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Alexander, rh Danny
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Bagshawe, Ms Louise
Baker, Norman
Baker, Steve
Baldry, Tony
Baldwin, Harriett
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Birtwistle, Gordon
Blackman, Bob
Blunt, Mr Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bone, Mr Peter
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, Tom
Bray, Angie
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Mr Steve
Brokenshire, James
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, Conor
Burns, rh Mr Simon
Burstow, Paul
Burt, Lorely
Byles, Dan
Cairns, Alun
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Cash, Mr William
Chishti, Rehman
Clark, rh Greg
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Crabb, Stephen
Crockart, Mike
Crouch, Tracey
Davey, Mr Edward
Davies, David T. C.
(Monmouth)
Davies, Glyn
de Bois, Nick
Djanogly, Mr Jonathan
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellison, Jane
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evans, Jonathan
Evennett, Mr David
Fabricant, Michael
Fallon, Michael
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mr Mark
Francois, rh Mr Mark
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fullbrook, Lorraine
Gale, Mr Roger
Garnier, Mr Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Gilbert, Stephen
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Graham, Richard
Grant, Mrs Helen
Gray, Mr James
Greening, Justine
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Hague, rh Mr William
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hammond, rh Mr Philip
Hancock, Matthew
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Heald, Mr Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Holloway, Mr Adam
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Huhne, rh Chris
Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy
Huppert, Dr Julian
Hurd, Mr Nick
Jackson, Mr Stewart
James, Margot
Javid, Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Mr Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Mr Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian
Lidington, rh Mr David
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Lopresti, Jack
Lord, Jonathan
Loughton, Tim
Lucas, Caroline
Luff, Peter
Lumley, Karen
Macleod, Mary
Main, Mrs Anne
Maude, rh Mr Francis
Maynard, Paul
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Miller, Maria
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Mordaunt, Penny
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newton, Sarah
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
Offord, Mr Matthew
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Ottaway, Richard
Patel, Priti
Pawsey, Mark
Percy, Andrew
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Randall, rh Mr John
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reevell, Simon
Reid, Mr Alan
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, Hugh
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Rudd, Amber
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Sanders, Mr Adrian
Sandys, Laura
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Sharma, Alok
Shepherd, Mr Richard
Simmonds, Mark
Simpson, Mr Keith
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Miss Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Julian
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stephenson, Andrew
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Stewart, Rory
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Swire, rh Mr Hugo
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Vickers, Martin
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Wallace, Mr Ben
Walter, Mr Robert
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wright, Jeremy
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
Zahawi, Nadhim
Tellers for the Noes:
Mark Hunter and
Mr Shailesh Vara
Question accordingly negatived.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 366
16 Mar 2011 : Column 367
16 Mar 2011 : Column 368
16 Mar 2011 : Column 369
Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the proposed words be there added.
The House divided:
Ayes 307, Noes 239.
[4.13 pm
AYES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Alexander, rh Danny
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Bagshawe, Ms Louise
Baker, Norman
Baker, Steve
Baldry, Tony
Baldwin, Harriett
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Birtwistle, Gordon
Blackman, Bob
Blackwood, Nicola
Blunt, Mr Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bone, Mr Peter
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, Tom
Bray, Angie
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Mr Steve
Brokenshire, James
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, Conor
Burstow, Paul
Burt, Alistair
Burt, Lorely
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Cash, Mr William
Chishti, Rehman
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Crabb, Stephen
Crockart, Mike
Crouch, Tracey
Davey, Mr Edward
Davies, David T. C.
(Monmouth)
Davies, Glyn
de Bois, Nick
Djanogly, Mr Jonathan
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellison, Jane
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evans, Jonathan
Evennett, Mr David
Fabricant, Michael
Fallon, Michael
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mr Mark
Francois, rh Mr Mark
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fullbrook, Lorraine
Gale, Mr Roger
Garnier, Mr Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Gilbert, Stephen
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Graham, Richard
Grant, Mrs Helen
Gray, Mr James
Greening, Justine
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Hague, rh Mr William
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hammond, rh Mr Philip
Hancock, Matthew
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, Mr John
Heald, Mr Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Holloway, Mr Adam
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Huhne, rh Chris
Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy
Hunter, Mark
Huppert, Dr Julian
Hurd, Mr Nick
Jackson, Mr Stewart
James, Margot
Javid, Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Mr Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Laing, Mrs Eleanor
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Mr Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian
Lidington, rh Mr David
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Lopresti, Jack
Lord, Jonathan
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Lumley, Karen
Macleod, Mary
Main, Mrs Anne
Maude, rh Mr Francis
Maynard, Paul
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Miller, Maria
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Mordaunt, Penny
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newton, Sarah
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
Offord, Mr Matthew
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Ottaway, Richard
Parish, Neil
Patel, Priti
Pawsey, Mark
Percy, Andrew
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Randall, rh Mr John
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reevell, Simon
Reid, Mr Alan
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, Hugh
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Rudd, Amber
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Sanders, Mr Adrian
Sandys, Laura
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shapps, rh Grant
Sharma, Alok
Shepherd, Mr Richard
Simmonds, Mark
Simpson, Mr Keith
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Miss Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Julian
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stephenson, Andrew
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Stewart, Rory
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Swire, rh Mr Hugo
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Vickers, Martin
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Wallace, Mr Ben
Walter, Mr Robert
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Willetts, rh Mr David
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
Zahawi, Nadhim
Tellers for the Ayes:
Jeremy Wright and
Mr Shailesh Vara
NOES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Anderson, Mr David
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Banks, Gordon
Barron, rh Mr Kevin
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Benton, Mr Joe
Berger, Luciana
Betts, Mr Clive
Blackman-Woods, Roberta
Blears, rh Hazel
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Blunkett, rh Mr David
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burnham, rh Andy
Byrne, rh Mr Liam
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Chapman, Mrs Jenny
Clark, Katy
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coaker, Vernon
Coffey, Ann
Connarty, Michael
Cooper, Rosie
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Cunningham, Tony
Curran, Margaret
Dakin, Nic
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Mr Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Dobbin, Jim
Dobson, rh Frank
Docherty, Thomas
Dodds, rh Mr Nigel
Donohoe, Mr Brian H.
Doran, Mr Frank
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Durkan, Mark
Eagle, Ms Angela
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Efford, Clive
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Esterson, Bill
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr Frank
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Fovargue, Yvonne
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gapes, Mike
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goggins, rh Paul
Goodman, Helen
Green, Kate
Griffith, Nia
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hamilton, Mr David
Hamilton, Fabian
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Havard, Mr Dai
Healey, rh John
Hendrick, Mark
Hepburn, Mr Stephen
Hermon, Lady
Heyes, David
Hillier, Meg
Hilling, Julie
Hodge, rh Margaret
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hood, Mr Jim
Hopkins, Kelvin
Hosie, Stewart
Hunt, Tristram
Irranca-Davies, Huw
James, Mrs Siân C.
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Helen
Jones, Mr Kevan
Jones, Susan Elan
Joyce, Eric
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Khan, rh Sadiq
Lammy, rh Mr David
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewis, Mr Ivan
Lloyd, Tony
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Caroline
Lucas, Ian
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
MacShane, rh Mr Denis
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Mr Khalid
Mahmood, Shabana
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McCrea, Dr William
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonnell, Dr Alasdair
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs Anne
McKechin, Ann
McKinnell, Catherine
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Mearns, Ian
Michael, rh Alun
Miliband, rh Edward
Miller, Andrew
Mitchell, Austin
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Munn, Meg
Murphy, rh Mr Jim
Murphy, rh Paul
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Onwurah, Chi
Owen, Albert
Pearce, Teresa
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Pound, Stephen
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reeves, Rachel
Reynolds, Jonathan
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Robertson, Angus
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr Geoffrey
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Roy, Lindsay
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Joan
Seabeck, Alison
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Smith, Angela
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Straw, rh Mr Jack
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Tami, Mark
Thomas, Mr Gareth
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Trickett, Jon
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, rh Keith
Vaz, Valerie
Walley, Joan
Watts, Mr Dave
Weir, Mr Mike
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Wicks, rh Malcolm
Williams, Hywel
Williamson, Chris
Wilson, Phil
Wilson, Sammy
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wishart, Pete
Woodcock, John
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Tellers for the Noes:
Lilian Greenwood and
Gregg McClymont
Question accordingly agreed to.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 370
16 Mar 2011 : Column 371
16 Mar 2011 : Column 372
16 Mar 2011 : Column 373
The Deputy Speaker declared the main Question, as amended, to be agreed to (Standing Order No. 31(2)).
That this House notes that the Government inherited the largest deficit in UK peacetime history and that the previous Government and current Opposition has no credible plan to deal with the deficit; further notes that this Government has already taken steps to support families and that those on low and middle incomes will benefit from April 2011 from a £1,000 increase in the income tax personal allowance, above-indexation increases in Child Tax Credit and that pensioners will receive new ‘triple-lock’ increases in the basic State Pension; further notes the significant impact on fuel prices in the UK of the dramatic increase in the world oil price to over $100 per barrel and the impact on households and business; notes that the previous Government increased fuel duty no less than four times between December 2008 and April 2010, proposed introducing a fuel escalator from 2011 and planned for a further series of six consecutive fuel duty rises up to 2014; nonetheless recognises the significant impact of high fuel prices on motorists, hauliers and businesses and that the Government is considering a fair fuel stabiliser that could support motorists and businesses when oil prices are high; and in addition notes that a reduction in VAT on fuel would be deemed illegal under EU law and that the Chancellor will update the House on this issue at the time of the Budget.’.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): I now have to announce the result of a Division deferred from a previous day. On the question relating to environmental protection, the Ayes were 282 and the Noes were 20, so the Ayes have it.
[ The Division list is published at the end of today’s debates.]
16 Mar 2011 : Column 374
NHS Reorganisation
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): I advise the House that neither of the amendments has been selected by Mr Speaker. I remind Members that there is a six-minute limit on Back-Bench contributions, and I am sure that when making their opening speeches, both Front-Bench speakers will be conscious of the number of Back Benchers who want to speak in the debate.
4.27 pm
John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne) (Lab): I beg to move,
That this House supports the founding principles of the National Health Service (NHS); therefore welcomes the improvements patients have seen in the NHS and supports steps further to ensure the NHS is genuinely centred on patients and carers, achieves quality and outcomes that are among the best in the world, refuses to tolerate unsafe care, involves clinicians in decision-making and enables healthcare providers to innovate, improves transparency and accountability, is more efficient and gives citizens greater say; recognises however that all of those policies and aspirations can be achieved without adopting the damaging and unjustified market-based reorganisation that is proposed, and already being implemented, by the Government; notes the strength of concerns being raised by independent experts, patient groups and professional bodies about the Government’s NHS reorganisation; further notes the similar concerns expressed by the Liberal Democrat Party spring conference; and therefore urges the Government to halt the implementation of the reorganisation and pause the progress of the legislation in order to re-think their plans and honour the Prime Minister’s promise to protect the NHS.
We have called this debate because of the growing crisis of confidence in the Government’s handling of the health service and the Conservatives’ NHS reorganisation, and a growing lack of confidence among independent experts, professional bodies and patients groups. Only one in four of the public back giving profit-making companies free access to the NHS, two thirds of doctors think the reorganisation will lead to worse, not better, patient services, and nearly nine in 10 believe it will lead to the fragmentation of services. When the Prime Minister misquotes me at Prime Minister’s Question Time in support of his plans, we know he is desperate and increasingly isolated.
John Healey: I will give way shortly.
Yesterday the British Medical Association delivered a comprehensive vote of no confidence in the Government’s plans. Dr Hamish Meldrum, the BMA chair, said they were
“driven by ideology rather than evidence, enshrined in ill-thought-through legislation and implemented in a rush during a major economic downturn.”
On Saturday the Lib Dems did the same. Baroness Williams called the plans “lousy” and a “stealth privatisation”. I heard that very good speech for myself at the conference in Sheffield, and I hope that today the House will hear speeches by the hon. Members for Southport (John Pugh) and for St Ives (Andrew George) similar to those that they made to their party conference on Saturday. I must also say to the Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow), that I hope that when he winds up this debate we do not hear the same flat and
16 Mar 2011 : Column 375
feeble apology that he gave for the Government’s plans when he opened the conference debate. He was totally rejected by his party, which told him and his parliamentary colleagues that the Health and Social Care Bill must be amended.
John Healey: I will give way in a moment.
The test for the Prime Minister is whether the Government’s proposals are always under review, as the Health Secretary said on Sunday, or whether this is not about significant changes to the policy, but about reassuring people as the Bill goes through the House, as people in the Department said on behalf of the Health Secretary on Monday.
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): Does the right hon. Gentleman not accept that with an annual budget of £100 billion and rising, there is room for efficiency savings and reform? Why has he set his face against fundamental reform, which even the public accept needs to take place?
John Healey: Nobody can doubt our commitment to the NHS, and to both investment and reform, during our 13 years in office—often in the face of opposition from trade unions. Of course there is room for efficiencies, and there are ways to get much better value for money out of the NHS but, as the Select Committee on Health has said, the reforms will make it harder, not easier, to meet that challenge.
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con): Has the shadow Health Secretary seen the consultation responses to the White Paper, which show widespread support for the reforms?
John Healey: The hon. Gentleman needs to read some of the material for himself, rather than just reading the briefings provided by his Whips and his Front-Bench team. Some of the 52 organisations that this Government and the Health Secretary claim supported the Bill have written to me saying that far from supporting the principles of the Bill, they have “grave concerns” about the White Paper; that was said by the Patients Association. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has said:
“We have been very clear that we have grave concerns about the scope and speed of the structural changes proposed”.
Diabetes UK, Cancer Research UK, the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and others do not take kindly to being misrepresented by Ministers as supporting this Bill when they have such grave concerns.
Mr David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con): I always thought that the right hon. Gentleman was a reformer at heart, but he obviously is not, given what he is saying today. Why did productivity in our hospitals decline by 15% during the 13 years of the Labour Government, while bureaucracy increased?
John Healey:
One of the problems—we all know this, and the new Government will be faced with it in exactly the same way—is exactly how to measure productivity in the NHS. Given the complexity of what is provided for patients—and the requirement to put together packages of care to help people recover from serious illness and
16 Mar 2011 : Column 376
live independently is so complex—it is hard to do that. The NHS just is not like a commercial business, which is what this Government want to turn it into.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con): Let us consider something more quantifiable. Is the right hon. Gentleman in favour of more or less bureaucracy in the NHS?
John Healey: Let me send the hon. Gentleman a copy of the Labour manifesto, because we set out exactly how we could make significant savings from the bureaucracy.
Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con) rose —
John Healey: I am just responding to the hon. Gentleman’s colleague, so I ask him to be patient. We set out exactly how we could reduce the costs and some of the bureaucracy. Perhaps the hon. Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) could ask his Front-Bench colleagues how bureaucracy will be cut when the function currently carried out by 150 primary care trusts in England will be carried out instead by more than double that number of general practitioner consortia.
Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab): Perhaps the Secretary of State, too, would share his thoughts about how money will be saved on bureaucracy when expenditure on Monitor, which will take on a new economic regulator role under clause 52 of the Health and Social Care Bill, will increase from £21 million a year under Labour to as much as £140 million a year—£500 million over the course of a Parliament. How is that saving money on bureaucracy?
John Healey: My hon. Friend does a great job in ensuring that this Government are held to account on the NHS through the Health Committee. He rightly says that Monitor’s budget is currently about £20 million and the impact assessment calculates that that could increase to as much as nearly £140 million—although Monitor’s core operating costs are not that entire total, the figure will be at least three times as high as it is now. That is not a decrease in bureaucracy and operating costs, it is an increase. Hon. Members would do well to read some of the documents, rather than the briefings they have been given by their Front Benchers.
Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab): My hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame M. Morris) has told us that Monitor’s budget will increase by the amount that he said, but does my right hon. Friend agree that it will continue to increase exponentially, because the Government are opening up the NHS to European competition law, and that competition will grow exponentially year on year?
John Healey: This is such a big and fundamental change to the NHS that £140 million is the best guess. Clearly, as the competition role of Monitor increases and the competition legislation it has to deal with becomes stronger, those costs could increase. We simply do not know, because this is a leap in the dark for the NHS.
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD):
Having listened to the debate at our party conference on Saturday, the right hon. Gentleman will know that there were strong views that the Bill needed to be
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further improved and strengthened, but he will also know that there was no call for it to be pulled or paused. He will also remember that when his party and my party joined together to form the NHS, the doctors were not always on the side of the enlightened.
John Healey: The Liberal Democrats are quick to try to claim credit for other people’s successes, and quick to try to duck responsibility for some of the difficult challenges they face. However, the right hon. Gentleman is right—it was the BMA that called yesterday for the Bill to be withdrawn. Our motion calls not for it to be withdrawn but for a pause in its passage through Parliament to give the Government a chance to rethink, exactly as was requested by speaker after speaker at his conference in Sheffield on Saturday, and all but a handful of the members who voted at it.
John Healey: I am going to make some progress. We are all conscious of your encouragement to do that, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Some say that the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary are failing to get the message across, but from the start they have told only half the story. The Tories did not tell people about their plans for reorganisation and market competition at the heart of the NHS before the election, and they did not tell the Lib Dems about them before they signed the coalition agreement pledging that there would be no NHS reorganisation. There is no mandate from the election or the coalition agreement for this fundamental reorganisation and far-reaching legislation. They will not be straight with people about their plans. This is not just about communication; it is about judgment. In the face of widespread warnings, they are forcing through at breakneck speed the biggest reorganisation in the NHS’s history.
Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con): The right hon. Gentleman wisely started by saying that there is room for reform. The right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling) had plans in his Budget for a 20% cut in the NHS. Will the shadow Secretary tell us which bit of the NHS he would cut to deliver that 20%?
John Healey: There is someone else who needs a copy of the Labour manifesto. He almost used his six minutes’ allocation to make that intervention.
John Healey: I am going to move on. If that is the best the Conservatives can do, I am going to move on.
The truth is that the more people see of the plans, the less they like them. The closer they look the more concerned they become, because they start to see far-reaching changes at the very heart of this reorganisation and legislation. These are the wrong reforms for the wrong reasons at the wrong time. As our motion says, and as the Lib Dem conference motion said, most people would agree on the declared and desirable objectives—indeed, that is the direction in which the Labour Government were heading—but those aims could be better achieved without this huge internal reorganisation and, as the Lib Dem conference motion stated,
“without adopting the damaging and unjustified market-based approach that is proposed.”
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Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab): Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is room for reform, but not room to risk the GP-patient relationship? Dr Gerada and the Manchester business school have both highlighted that there is a risk that bonuses and profits could be put above diagnoses and treatment.
John Healey: My hon. Friend is right: this reorganisation and legislation leave no part of the NHS untouched. One big concern is that when GPs are making both rationing and referral decisions at the same time, patients will start to ask whether their GP is making a judgment about their treatment in their best interests or in the best interests of his or her budget and consortia business. That can hit at the trust at the heart of the patient-doctor relationship.
Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con): I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way so generously. He has mentioned the Labour manifesto twice, and I just happen to have a copy of it. It says that Labour will support a
“role for the independent sector”,
encourage any willing provider, make all hospitals foundation trusts and give them the
“freedom to…increase their private services”.
On that basis, will he explain why he and the leader of the Labour party, who I believe to have been the author of that manifesto, are reneging on that position?
John Healey: We were doing what the manifesto said before the election. [Interruption.] We were doing it where the private sector and competition could add capacity to clear waiting lists, or do something new that the NHS was not doing. We did it in circumstances that were carefully planned, properly managed and always publicly accountable. If the hon. Gentleman is going to swallow the guff from those on his Front Bench that this is somehow an evolution of Labour’s policy, he will have to ask the Health Secretary why he needs legislation that is more than three times longer than the Act that set up the NHS in the first place.
Why do we say what we do in the motion before the House? In truth, this is a Tory reorganisation, and the legislation has been mis-sold. It is not just about getting GPs to lead commissioning or looking to cut layers of management; it is setting up the NHS as a full-scale market driven by the power of the competition regulator and the force of competition law. The reorganisation and legislation is designed to break up the NHS, open up all areas of the NHS to private health companies, remove requirements for proper openness, scrutiny and accountability to the public and to Parliament, and make the NHS subject to both UK and European competition law. The Tories are driving the free market political ideology through the heart of the NHS.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley): On precisely that point about scrutiny and accountability, we have been talking about independent sector providers. Under Labour, if scrutiny committees in local authorities wanted to investigate the activities of independent sector providers they could not do so. Under our legislation, they will be allowed to do so. Wherever NHS money—the public pound—goes, scrutiny will be able to follow. That is a change for the better.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 379
John Healey: That is simply not true. The people who will make the big decisions about £80 billion of spending—the GP consortia—will not need to meet in public or to publish minutes of their meetings. They will not be subject to scrutiny by this House or proper public accountability.
Let me turn now to the question of subjecting the NHS to UK and European competition law. The Prime Minister clearly did not know about that at Prime Minister’s questions today—he clearly did not know that a third of his legislation sets up this new free market NHS. Perhaps the Health Secretary has only told him half the story about the legislation—
Mr Lansley: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
John Healey: Shall I finish what I have to say? Then I will give way. If the Health Secretary has not told the Prime Minister, he certainly has not told the public or this House, so let me spell it out—[ Interruption. ] The Health Secretary says that I have made it up, but why not wait for me to explain to the House, and then he can say whether what I am about to explain to the House is in my words or his?
Clause 52 of the Health and Social Care Bill, entitled “General duties”, sets up the new competition regulator, Monitor, and says:
“The main duty of Monitor in exercising its functions is to protect and promote the interests of people who use health care services—
(a) by promoting competition where appropriate, and
(b) through regulation where necessary.”
The new regulator is given legal competition powers, as well as functions under the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002, and there are provisions on reviews by the Competition Commission and co-operation with the Office of Fair Trading.
Mr Lansley: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
John Healey: The Secretary of State can speak in a minute; I will finish this point. The regulator can investigate complaints about competition, force services to be put out to competitive tender, remove licences and fine the commissioner or provider up to 10% of their turnover. Helpfully, the Government’s new chair of Monitor confirms that. In The Times last month, he said:
“We did it in gas, we did it in power, we did it in telecoms, we’ve done it in rail, we’ve done it in water, so there’s actually 20 years of experience in taking monopolistic, monolithic markets and providers and exposing them to economic regulation”.
Mr Lansley: It is dead simple: the Health and Social Care Bill does not extend the application of EU competition law, or the application of domestic competition law. The powers given to Monitor as a sector regulator are the same as those now available to the Office of Fair Trading. The Bill does not change the scope of competition law at all.
John Healey: The right hon. Gentleman was involved, so he knows better than anyone else that the Tories are now setting out to do to the public services, including the NHS, what they did to the public utilities in the 1980s.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 380
John Healey: Let me finish. The Government’s explanatory memorandum is helpful on the issue of EU law. It says, about chapters 1 and 2 of the Bill—the one third of the legislation that sets up the new competition system—that
“The Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 prohibitions are modelled on Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which prohibit agreements that prevent, restrict or distort competition, and abuse of a dominant market position.
Monitor would have concurrent powers with the OFT to conduct investigations where it had reasonable grounds for suspecting that either of these two prohibitions—under either UK or EU law—had been infringed in the provision of health services in England.”
That means that a competition challenge in the NHS can be taken all the way to the European Court.
Helpfully, under pressure in Committee yesterday, the Minister of State, Department of Health, the right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), confirmed that
“As NHS providers develop and begin to compete actively with other NHS providers and with private and voluntary providers, UK and EU competition laws will increasingly become applicable.”––[Official Report, Health and Social Care Public Bill Committee, 15 March 2011; c. 718.]
As GP consortia will be corporate bodies, not public sector bodies, and as hospitals will be competing with each other, will have no limit on treating private patients, and will have no support from the wider NHS if they run into financial problems, they will be bodies to which the EU competition rules and legislation apply. That means that the NHS will be tied up in the red tape of market regulation and competition law, and we risk decisions about who provides our health care services being taken not in England by GPs or Ministers, but in Brussels by the European Commission, and in Luxembourg by the European Court.
Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con): The right hon. Gentleman has already acknowledged that competition and markets were a hallmark of the Labour Government; they took them far further than the previous Conservative Government ever did. Of 475 acute care sites providing elective care, 175 are independent sector providers. The Bill proposes making the competition fair and putting it on a level playing field. No longer will we allow the private sector to be as favoured as it was under the Labour Government.
John Healey: This is a debate. People in the country and in the NHS are worried not about what we did in government—they saw the massive improvements under Labour—but about the application of competition law, domestic and European, in full force to the NHS for the first time. The hon. Lady is serving on the Public Bill Committee. She will have the chance to get her head around that, as she clearly has not done so yet.
Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab):
My right hon. Friend has anticipated the point that I was going to make. As we heard clearly in Committee yesterday—the Secretary of State ought to read the Official Report—his Minister, the right hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), let the cat out of the bag. Hitherto the NHS has been insulated from European competition law. As there are
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more entrants to the market, competition law will have to apply—competition red in tooth and claw—followed by the break-up of the NHS.
John Healey: My hon. Friend is right. We have misinformation and confusion. If the Health Secretary disagrees with his Health Minister, I suggest that they have a word about it after the debate.
In the end, perhaps Nye Bevan was right. When Clement Attlee suggested that the NHS opening should be celebrated as a national institution supported by the whole nation, he said, “The Conservatives voted against the National Health Act, not only on second but the third reading. . . I don’t see why we should forget this.”
It is time for the Health Secretary to tell us why he is spending £2 billion on an NHS reorganisation when front-line staff and services are being cut. How many hospitals will be forced to close because of these reforms? Why is he handing such powers over our NHS to new national quangos, competition lawyers and the EU? Why is there no democratic voice in commissioning? Why is he allowing profit to be made in commissioning essential health services? Why is he removing any limit on private patients paying to jump the queue for treatment in NHS hospitals?
John Healey: It is time the Health Secretary told us who is fully in support of the NHS reorganisation and the legislation. NHS staff, dedicated to the part that they play in our NHS, will strive to keep things going whatever the pressures, but patients are starting to see operations cancelled, waiting times rise, hospital services at risk, front-line staff jobs cut and services cut. This is not what people expected when the Prime Minister said that he would “protect the NHS”. Instead, they are seeing the Prime Minister’s NHS promises to “protect front-line services”, to “give the NHS a real rise in funding”, and to “stop top-down reorganisations that get in the way of patient care” all broken. The NHS was the Prime Minister’s most personal pledge. It is now becoming his biggest broken promise.
Now is the time to listen to the chorus of criticism and concern, and to recognise the growing crisis of confidence in the Government’s handling of the health service. Now is the time to call a time out, pause the passage of the Bill in Parliament, and think again. I commend the motion to the House.
4.53 pm
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley): The Labour motion is interesting. I will ask the House to reject it, but it is an interesting motion. The first half of it accepts the principles of our reforms—it even does so in the same terms in which we have expressed them—but in the second half it goes on to say, “Not yet. Don’t make us do it yet.” Labour Members are turning their backs on the change that we need in the national health service and even on the policies they pursued in government.
But it is time for change. The public agree—65% of adults in England think that fundamental changes are needed in the national health service. The need to improve results for patients demands it. The need to empower clinical leadership demands it. The need to cut bureaucracy and invest in front-line care for patients
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demands it. As a coalition Government, we do not shirk our responsibilities. We have been absolutely clear that the NHS will remain free at the point of need, paid for from general taxation and based entirely on need and not on the ability to pay.
Those values are not, and never will be, threatened by this Government. The Health and Social Care Bill will not undermine any of the rights in the NHS constitution. It is for those same reasons that we, in a coalition Government, are protecting the NHS in the life of this Parliament by increasing NHS funding by £10.7 billion.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab): Will the Secretary of State distance himself from the comments of Dr Charles Alessi, a GP alleged to have been one of the architects of GP commissioning in this Bill and one of the people invited to No. 10, who is of the opinion that too many people in his area are receiving treatment for macular degeneration? Is that not rationing services and nothing whatsoever to do with providing them on the basis of clinical need?
Mr Lansley: All GPs and their colleagues who were part of the first wave of pathfinders were invited to No. 10—there were far more than we ever expected—and Charles Alessi was one of them. It is a complete illustration. I do not know what Charles said or why he said it, but he is the doctor, not me. Frankly, I think that it is clinical leaders in the NHS who are responsible for what they say, not me.
Nadhim Zahawi: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the way in which the Opposition are conducting themselves, when they proposed a 20% cut to the NHS, is scaremongering among our constituents and entirely irresponsible?
Mr Lansley: My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point, and he made it to the shadow Secretary of State, who did not answer it.
Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab): Will the Secretary of State give way?
The fact is terribly clear that before the election the Labour Government said that in three years the NHS would have to save between £15 billion and £20 billion. The Labour party never said in government that that money, if saved in the NHS, would be reinvested in the NHS. The other point is that when we came to the spending review, in which we agreed £10.7 billion extra for the NHS over the life of this Parliament, the shadow Secretary of State’s friends, who were then responsible, said that we should cut the NHS. We do not need to speculate about what they said they would do, because we can look at the example of Wales. The Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government are proposing to cut the NHS budget in Wales by 5%, while we are increasing it. We know exactly what Labour would do if they were in charge of the NHS: they would cut it. We have not cut it and are going to protect it.
Simon Hughes:
I share absolutely my right hon. Friend’s view that the protection of the budget and the commitment to the principles of the NHS, which he has just enunciated,
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are really valuable and that Labour’s record in forcing privatisation undermines its whole argument. He knows that there are concerns. Having come back from the debate in my party, I ask him straightforwardly whether he will take on board the concerns expressed and look at ways to strengthen and further improve the Bill as it passes though this House and the House of Lords.
Mr Lansley: My right hon. Friend was busy in Sheffield over the weekend, but he might have heard me say on Sunday that where there are legitimate concerns, founded in reality rather than myth, about how we will secure the NHS and its modernisation for the future, we will listen. We have listened and changed the policy before the Bill was introduced. We have already amended the Bill during the course of its passage so far and will always look to clarify and improve it as it proceeds.
Michael Dugher (Barnsley East) (Lab): Will the Secretary of State give way?
Mr Lansley: I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, and perhaps he can explain why the Labour party leading the Welsh Assembly Government will cut the NHS by 5% while we are going to increase the budget by £10.7 billion.
Michael Dugher: I might be new to Parliament, but we ask the questions and he is supposed to answer them. The Secretary of State knows full well that patient groups, health charities, doctors and nurses oppose the Bill—even that shower opposite opposed it at their conference. Is it not just arrogance on the part of the Government—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): Order. The hon. Gentleman needs to moderate his language. I would grateful if he withdrew the word “shower” and thought of another way to make his point that uses parliamentary language.
Michael Dugher: I withdraw “shower”.
Is it not just arrogant for the Government to think that everybody else is wrong and they are right—
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order. It was not an opportunity to ask another question, either.
Mr Lansley: The hon. Gentleman has now learned that, if one is trying to pray somebody in aid, it is best not to insult them at the same time.
We have made it clear that we need to protect the NHS now and for future generations through modernisation. Under the Labour party—
Owen Smith: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Lansley: Ah! Now we really do have somebody who can explain why in Wales the Labour party is cutting the NHS budget while we are increasing it. Come on!
Owen Smith:
That is happening as a result of the very difficult decisions being taken in Wales, having seen the Welsh Assembly budget cut by £1.8 billion by the right hon. Gentleman’s Government. What we are not doing
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in Wales, however, is effectively privatising the NHS, exposing it to competition law or stuffing the mouths of private companies with public gold.
Mr Lansley: Let us remember that, when we decided to support the NHS here, through the Barnett formula by extension, money was provided to the devolved Administrations, but the hon. Gentleman confirms that a Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government chose not to invest in the NHS, while we in England chose to do so. I urge Welsh voters to remember that when they come to the elections in May.
Under the trade union thumb, Labour is turning its back on modernisation in the NHS, but the NHS cannot be preserved for the future and protected by neglect; it is not something that sits in a static format. It has to change to improve. When the number of managers in the NHS doubled under Labour, when results for patients in many conditions remain way below those achieved in other countries, and when the number of patients placed in mixed-sex accommodation runs into the thousands every month, the NHS needs to change.
Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth) (Con): Does my right hon. Friend agree that some GPs are seeing the potential benefits to their local areas of improving the service for patients, and will he join me in congratulating GPs, such as those in Great Yarmouth, who are moving forward, several years ahead of schedule, with the pathfinder projects?
Mr Lansley: Yes. My hon. Friend will know that we have already arrived at the point where 177 GP groups, representing 35 million patients all over England, have volunteered as pathfinders to show how they can demonstrate such work. [ Interruption. ] Labour MPs who are insulting general practitioners might like just to remember—
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. Come on; we want to see the debate continue. A lot of Members want to speak and to intervene, but we cannot have so many of them on their feet at once.
Mr Lansley: I remember that if we ask the public whom they trust in public service, we find that general practitioners are at the top of the list. Members of Parliament and politicians are pretty near to the bottom of the list, so the public might take it pretty amiss that Labour politicians are insulting general practitioners by thinking that they are in it for the money. They are not; they are in it for the patients.
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab): Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Lansley: No. I have given way to the hon. Gentleman.
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Joan Ruddock (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab): Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Only yesterday, the Public Accounts Committee said that over the past 10 years the productivity of NHS hospitals had been in almost continuous decline, and that taxpayers were getting less for every pound invested in the NHS: Labour, leaving us to sort out the mess. The truth of the matter is that the NHS needs to change to meet the rising demand for and cost of health care.
The changes that the NHS needs are simple: more investment, less waste, power to front-line doctors, nurses and health professionals, and to put patients first.
Mr Nick Raynsford (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab): Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Lansley: No. I will give way to the right hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock) first.
Joan Ruddock: The right hon. Gentleman speaks of the respect that patients have for their GPs, and that is certainly the case in my area, where GPs do an incredibly difficult and demanding job. How does he think, therefore, patients and the doctors themselves regard the pressure being put on them to become managers, to adopt skills that they do not have, and being forced to do it, when they say to me that the plans are untested, potentially divisive and will take them away from their patients? Those things are actually happening. Does he think that it is ethical to pay GPs £300,000 to cut services to patients?
Mr Lansley: The Royal College of General Practitioners has said that it believes that there should be more clinician-led commissioning, and yesterday the British Medical Association reasserted its view that general practice-led commissioning is the right way forward. The Labour Government set up practice-based commissioning but, as the shadow Health Minister, the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), said, GPs were not given the power, responsibility and opportunity to do it. I am afraid that the right hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford is speaking against the evidence and the experience of GPs all over the country.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con): Does my right hon. Friend agree that the words of the shadow Secretary of State in this debate seem to contrast somewhat with his words back in January, when he said that
“the general aims of reform are sound—greater role for clinicians in commissioning care, more involvement of patients, less bureaucracy and greater priority on improving health outcomes”?
Why does my right hon. Friend think he has changed his mind?
Mr Lansley: I think I know why he has changed his mind.
Mr Lansley: Yes, that is one possibility. Another is that Labour Members are paid for by the trade unions.
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Our changes are driving real improvement. Our investment means that more than 1,300 patients are now getting the life-extending cancer drugs they need; that is investment in cancer drugs that the Labour party opposed.
Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to make no apology about the need for reform when cancer outcomes in this country remain well below the European average. The all-party group on cancer and, most recently, the Public Accounts Committee have made the case for recording staging data, which provide an insight into early diagnosis. Will he assure the House that, under these reforms, the importance of this issue will be pursued by the Government?
Mr Lansley: Yes. I am grateful to my hon. Friend and pay tribute to his work in this area, which is much respected. He is absolutely right—we will be doing that. Indeed, we can see the benefit already. A few weeks ago, I launched the bowel cancer awareness campaign in the east of England. The reason we were able to start that awareness campaign in that region is that we had good staging data arising out of the cancer networks in the area, which means that we will be able to make valid comparisons between the past and the future in terms of the stage at which patients are presenting for diagnosis of cancer.
Owen Smith: Will the Secretary of State give way?
Mr Lansley: No, I have given way to the hon. Gentleman before. [ Interruption. ] He only gets one shot.
Let me make it very clear. Our cuts in bureaucracy—
Mr Lansley: No, I will not give way—Labour Members might like to hear this.
Our cuts in bureaucracy have led to 2,000 fewer managers since the general election and 2,500 more doctors. We are already shifting resources to the front line. More than 5,000 surgeries across the country are now part of the pathfinder groups taking responsibility for front-line services. Some 25,000 front-line NHS staff are taking the opportunity to come together in social enterprises. All this is the modernisation that Labour now opposes. It is the modernisation that is delivering the results that matter, and will matter in future even more as we get to the outcomes that people really care about—whether they live, whether they recover, whether their treatment is successful, whether they have successful lives at home with long-term conditions.
At the same time, waiting times are stable and hospital infections are down, with C. diff down by a fifth and MRSA down by more than a quarter. The number of patients who are in mixed-sex accommodation when they should not be has also come down.
Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con): Does my right hon. Friend agree that we should totally dissociate ourselves from the disgraceful remarks implying that our reforms will somehow encourage GPs to make choices that are not best for their patients?
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Mr Lansley: My hon. Friend makes a very important point. I caution Labour Members not to put political opportunism in place of the relationships that they should have in future with GPs, doctors and nurses and local foundation trusts in their constituencies. They are not speaking for their constituencies—they are just speaking for the trade unions.
The coalition Government are listening to patient groups, professional bodies and independent experts. We have had eight separate substantial consultations on our proposals, and we have changed policy as a result. For example, we have amended the Health and Social Care Bill on an important point, which greatly concerned the BMA, and clarified that the measure supports competition on quality, not price. At the point when a patient exercises choice or a GP undertakes a referral, the price of providers will be the same. By extension, competition must be on the basis of quality. That is important.
Malcolm Wicks (Croydon North) (Lab): Given the removal of the limit on private patients who can go to an NHS hospital, my constituents will be concerned that, in conditions of scarcity, clinical need for a bed will be trumped by the weight of a wallet. Will the Secretary of State reassure my constituents that money will not trump the needs of patients?
Mr Lansley: Yes. I can entirely reassure the right hon. Gentleman’s constituents because the Bill makes it clear that even if private patient income is available to foundation trusts, it must support the principal purpose, which is provision of services to patients through the NHS. If the right hon. Gentleman wants an example, he might like to go along the road into the constituency of the Minister of State, Department of Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow), and meet people from the Royal Marsden, which is a foundation trust that attracts, from memory—I may not be entirely up to date—approximately 25% of income from private patients. It has consistently recorded the highest scores of excellence for its quality of service to patients.
Mr Lansley: I want to make progress. I have given way several times.
The right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) said that we planned to get rid of regional system management in the NHS, but that was Labour’s policy when it introduced NHS foundation trusts. Through introducing health and well-being boards in local authorities, we will have a genuine, system-wide view that looks at the NHS, public health and social care. He complains about the commercial insolvency regime, but Labour introduced that under the legislation that set up the foundation trusts eight years ago. He said that our plans introduce EU competition law. No. EU competition law already exists and the Bill does nothing to change that—it does not extend the application of competition law. [Interruption.] No, it does not. In Committee, the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), explained the current position, which the Bill does not change.
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The right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne and other Labour Members talk about price competition. We have clarified the Bill to ensure that the competition is on quality. What happened under Labour? The private sector was paid 11% more than the NHS. Under Labour, private sector providers were paid £250 million for operations that they did not perform. Under Labour, NHS hospitals were barred from tendering to provide the capacity that Labour offered to the independent sector. Labour Members favoured the private sector. A Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment stated that we would not in future allow the private sector to be given advantages and the NHS to be shut out. We will implement that.
I want to know a bit, because although the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne said that it was the Opposition’s job to ask questions today, I have done many Opposition day debates on health when I was asked many times what our policy was, and I answered those questions. Is it Labour’s policy to extend the use of voluntary sector providers in the NHS? That was in the Labour party’s manifesto. Indeed, Labour said that it wanted to use the independent private sector, too. Is it still the policy? No answer. We do not know. Is it Labour’s policy to make every trust an NHS foundation trust? Again, it was in the Labour party manifesto. Is it still the Labour party’s policy—yes or no? No answer. Again, we do not know. Is it Labour’s policy to promote competition in the NHS, as quoted from the Labour party manifesto in the debate? The right hon. Gentleman has just made a speech opposing that. Does he wish to intervene?
John Healey: I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way. We had the NHS as the preferred provider and were ready to use other providers when they could help, and we did so. The great improvements in the NHS happened because we were prepared to put in the investment and to make the reforms. The Secretary of State talks about policies. The problem with what he is doing to the NHS—the reorganisation, the legislation and the ideological change at the heart of it—is that he did not tell the people about it before the election and he did not tell the Lib Dems about it before they signed the coalition agreement. This top-down reorganisation is exactly what he promised not to do.
Mr Lansley: The right hon. Gentleman was not satisfied with his first speech, so he had to have a go at a second one. He did not answer any of my questions. The Labour party said in its manifesto that it would use the private and voluntary sectors alongside NHS providers. The reason for that was simple: having the NHS as the preferred provider meant that the patient could be let down time after time before another quality provider could be permitted. We are going to allow competition on quality, but the quality has to be there. Patients will get the best possible service from whoever is best placed to provide that care.
Our changes are being seen across the country already.
Mr Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con): This party political ding-dong is great fun, but what worries me is that we have an ageing population, there are rightly more and more expensive techniques, and the taxpayer cannot put any more money in. Who is going to save the NHS if there is no co-operation with the private sector?
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Mr Lansley: Over many years as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, my hon. Friend challenged the failure of the previous Government to secure the improvement and value for money that is necessary patients. I make no bones about it: I think that if we give NHS organisations freedom and opportunity through foundation trust status, they will be competitive. I do not think that we will see a big expansion in the number of private sector providers, because the NHS has the enterprise and innovation to succeed. However, we have to make sure that they are open to that test. We test whether voluntary and independent sector providers meet the right quality, and we must expose the NHS to that test.
Mr Lansley: No. We will hold the NHS to account—[ Interruption. ]
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. The Secretary of State has decided that he is not going to give way. That is his decision. He has given way already. We need to have a little less noise so that we can hear the Secretary of State.
Mr Lansley: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have to conclude to ensure that we do not trample on Members’ time.
We will hold the NHS to account for what it achieves, but not tell it how to achieve it. We want continuous improvements in outcomes and more personalised care. We are going to change accountability in the NHS. In the past, the only question in accident and emergency was whether people were seen within four hours. We will ask whether a patient was seen by the right person, whether the quality of care they received was appropriate, and whether they recovered. From April, we will know those things for the first time. On mental health, we will ask whether we are helping people with serious mental health problems to live longer, and whether we are helping them to get a job. We will ensure that we find out those things and that we know which services provide the right care.
Beyond the NHS, we will make changes that increase accountability. As of today, 134 local authorities with social care responsibilities—almost 90% of such local authorities in England—have signed up to be early implementers of health and well-being boards. Those are the bodies that will finally tear down the walls between the NHS, public health and social care; and they will strengthen local accountability to the public and patients. Local authorities will finally have the powers that they need to scrutinise all NHS-funded providers of care, be they public, voluntary or private sector providers.
The coalition Government were elected to protect the NHS and that is what we are doing. We are protecting the NHS in this Parliament through increased investment, and protecting it for future generations through modernisation. We need an NHS in which every system, process and incentive encourages excellence in health care and weeds out poor performance. Labour now opposes that. It has turned its back on the NHS. It wants to drag the NHS back into politics; I want the NHS to be freed from political interference so that it can deliver the best possible care and results for patients.
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This Government will always support the NHS. We have a simple aim: to create an NHS that is up there with the best in the world. Our modernisation plans will do just that.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. I remind Members that there is a six-minute limit.
5.19 pm
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab): I have spoken in this place on several occasions about the deeply disturbing reforms that the Government are proposing to our national health service. On those occasions I have accused the Secretary of State of glibness and hubris, and as each day passes, as each new piece of information comes to light and as we scrutinise the detail of the Health and Social Care Bill, he proves my assertions right. He currently presides over what I can only describe as an unholy mess that will have huge negative consequences for the NHS and the people who love it and depend on it.
I tell the Secretary of State that the Opposition have seen through his plans, and the Liberal Democrats, who are on his side of the Chamber, see through them as well. Many of his colleagues are very nervous about them, and yesterday the British Medical Association and medical professionals made a clear and unequivocal statement that they, too, see through them. As the plans unfold further, I can tell hon. Members that patients and the British public see through them as well.
Despite the broken promises, the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister seem to think that their NHS reforms are a good idea. I am not sure that they are 100% convinced, though, given that they did not seem confident enough to share the details of their plans with the British public before the general election. In fact, the Prime Minister was very clear in his promise to the British people:
“no more pointless top-down reorganisations”
“When your family relies on the NHS all of the time—day after day, night after night—you know how precious it is.”
How quickly forgotten those words were.
Some people felt reassured that, whatever else might happen if the Tories were elected, the NHS would be left untouched. How wrong they were. Today we find the NHS in a state of turmoil and facing massive reorganisation, with hundreds of health workers laid off and its very future threatened by a desire to set up a commercially driven market in health care. This very lunchtime, the Prime Minister said, “We are not reorganising the bureaucracy of the NHS. We are abolishing the bureaucracy of the NHS.” The bit he left off was that private providers would be doing that work. Who is he kidding?
Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con) rose —
Dr Daniel Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con) rose—
Graham Evans: I thank the hon. Lady—
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Rosie Cooper: No, I was giving way to—
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. The hon. Lady will have to sit down during the hon. Gentleman’s intervention.
Graham Evans: I am new to the House, but I seem to recall the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), who was then the Secretary of State for Health, saying that we should
“celebrate the role of the private sector in the NHS.”
What has changed for Labour Members? [ Interruption .]
Rosie Cooper: I am sorry, I did not hear the end of that.
Graham Evans: When he was Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Leigh said that we should be celebrating
“the role of the private sector in the NHS”.
What has changed since he made that comment?
Rosie Cooper: The health service was not an issue at the general election, and why? Because people broadly supported it and were not worried about the state that it was in. Government Members must listen to the furore that will happen and prepare to defend their seats in light of the decisions that they take now.
Mr Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con): Will the hon. Lady give way?
Rosie Cooper: No, I have very little time now.
I believe that what Michael Portillo said on the BBC’s “This Week” programme was an accurate reflection of how the Government have sought to mislead the people of this country. When asked by Andrew Neil why the Government had not told us about the plans for the NHS prior to the general election, he responded:
“Because they didn’t believe they could win the election if they told you what they were going to do. People are so wedded to the NHS. It’s the nearest we have to a national religion—a sacred cow.”
He could not have been more clear: the Government intended to misrepresent their position and to mislead voters.
As I have said previously, this Conservative Government have been prepared to play to the gallery while playing Russian roulette with the future of people’s health services. That is still the case, but the gallery is now empty. They are on their own and have no mandate—
Mrs Main: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. On two occasions the hon. Lady has accused the Government of misleading the public. I cannot believe that that is the case, and I am sure she would like to withdraw those remarks.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. That is not a point of order, because the accusation was not against individual Members.
Rosie Cooper: Oh how the truth hurts! Michael Portillo could not have been more clear that the Government intended to misrepresent their position and to mislead voters.
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I believe very clearly that you are playing Russian roulette with people’s futures, but the gallery is empty and you are on your own. I still believe that you have no mandate for these ill-advised reforms. You do not have that support, and it seems to me you do not have a clue—[ Interruption. ] It is impossible to make a speech with that noise.
I shall just recap. I do not believe that you have any mandate for these reforms. You do not have the support out there and it seems to me that you do not have a clue. For goodness’ sake, stop now before you kill the NHS.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. May I just remind Members that the Chair is not responsible? I would be pleased if we did not use the word “you”.
5.27 pm
Mr Stephen Dorrell (Charnwood) (Con): I serve on the Select Committee on Health with the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Rosie Cooper), which I enjoy doing. If I may say so, her speech was uncharacteristically partisan, but I guess that that is the nature of debate on the Floor of the House.
The motion moved by the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), the shadow Health Secretary, has a clear, simple message: “Frank was right.” For 20 years, every Health Secretary—starting with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) and including me and my right hon. Friend the current Health Secretary—with the exception only of the right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Frank Dobson), has espoused the principles that underlie the Health and Social Care Bill.
The motion is an apologia from the Labour party to the right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras, for whom I feel rather sorry. He was roundly rubbished by his party in opposition, and now he is being canonised. As in the Roman Catholic Church, it is better that you are dead if you are to be a saint in the Labour party. I did not agree with him when he was in office, and nor do I agree with him now.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, the truth is that the principles in the Bill are principles that every Labour Health Secretary, with the exception of the right hon. Gentleman, sought to carry out in office. Let us go through them. GP-led commissioning was one of the first principles that Labour espoused in 1997. My right hon. Friend rightly refers to practice-based commissioning, but that was actually the previous Government’s second attempt to introduce GP-led commissioning, which happened after the first attempt—primary care groups—had failed. The previous Government tried twice to apply the principle that they espoused; my right hon. Friend is trying once again.
Tom Blenkinsop: The Bill gives primacy to Monitor, which makes economic decisions. It does not give primacy to quality under the Care Quality Commission. Primacy will go to Monitor, which will make economic decisions on what health treatment people receive.
Mr Dorrell:
I understand the point, and it is part of the argument that the Labour party has started to make about how, since Christmas, it has suddenly discovered that the Health and Social Care Bill and the policy that
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it implements—a policy based on commissioners having choices in the interests of taxpayers and patients—require commissioners to have those very choices if the policy is to be effective. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, the principle of competition for commissioners’ budgets, as funded by the taxpayer, was set out by the last Government in their policy of December 2007. Hon. Members should look at the text—it is there in the record.
The last Government were right. The right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne seeks to set up an Aunt Sally when he says that there is something wrong with European principles of competition law when applied to health care. Let us be clear: if we are spending £100 billion of taxpayers’ money on securing high-quality health care on the principle of equitable access, what is wrong with insisting on the principle that we should not allow monopolists to restrict the choices available for using that budget to deliver high-quality care for patients? That is the principle, and that is why I am in favour of competition law applying to the provision of health care in response to a tax-funded budget.
Nadhim Zahawi: Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is political opportunism of the worst kind?
Mr Dorrell: It is, but it is not even political opportunism that applies to a popular principle. Surely opportunism is normally motivated by some popular principle, yet defending the interests of a monopolist does not seem to me to be a very popular principle.
Grahame M. Morris: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Dorrell: I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, who is another member of the Health Committee.
Grahame M. Morris: I am doubly honoured, because the right hon. Gentleman has afforded me a courtesy that the Secretary of State would not. The concept of having greater clinical engagement—not just for GPs, but for doctors in secondary care—enjoys broad support across the parties. However, the framework laid out in the Health and Social Care Bill opens the service up to privatisation.
Mr Dorrell: I thought that the hon. Gentleman was going to make the point that he has made in the Select Committee—a point with which I agree—that the purpose of GP-led commissioning is to engage the entire clinical community, not just GPs, in the commissioning process. That is a principle that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agrees with. It is also a principle that Sir David Nicholson has made clear will be part of the principles that will be expected to be applied in GP-led commissioning consortia.
Before the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) led me down the road of competition policy, I was going through the principles that are consistent across the health policies implemented by all Health Secretaries since 1990, with the single exception of the right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras.
Mr Brine: Will my right hon. Friend give way on that point?
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Mr Dorrell: If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I will not.
There are two other important principles, one of which was espoused by the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) when she worked for Patricia Hewitt. That is the principle that all NHS providers should be foundation trusts, in order to provide a level playing field, and to ensure that commissioners have a fair choice and that we deliver good value, high-quality care for patients. Finally, there is the principle of “any willing provider”, where the Labour party provided us not only with a policy, but with a slogan and an election commitment to implement that policy. Now Labour wishes to desert both the policy and the slogan in its election manifesto.
This debate makes me feel as though the last 20 years never happened. It could have happened at any time between 1990 and 1997; and in fact it did—many, many times. What has happened since is that Labour in government picked up those principles and sought to put them into effect. Now, less than 12 months after the general election, it has reverted to type. It is as though nothing happened in the past 20 years. We have heard industrial quantities of nonsense this afternoon, and I hope that the House will reject the Opposition’s motion.
5.35 pm
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab): This costly reorganisation of the NHS has no mandate from the British people, and no support from health professionals or, apparently, the Liberal Democrats. It will be the end of the NHS that we know and love. As I have said before, the NHS is not just an organisation that plans and provides our health services; it also represents the values of our society by which this country sets much store. Contrary to the assertions from the Government Front Bench, the NHS reorganisation defined in the Health and Social Care Bill will wipe out the founding principles of the NHS in one fell swoop.
For the first time since the NHS was established in 1948, the Secretary of State for Health will not have a duty to provide a comprehensive health service. I will let that sink in. Instead, it is to be replaced with duties to “promote” and to
“act with a view to securing”
health services—weasel words that beggar belief. The original duty is fundamental to protecting the provision of a universal, comprehensive health service. It is the foundation on which the NHS was established. Without it, we will no longer be sure that a comprehensive national health service will be provided, and Members of Parliament will no longer be able to hold the Secretary of State to account on behalf of the constituents who elected them.
Rather embarrassingly for the Secretary of State, he might recall that, when he presented evidence to the Health and Social Care Bill Committee, I questioned him on this and asked him why he was repealing that fundamental duty. He said that he was not. However, it is absolutely clear from the Bill’s explanatory notes that that is exactly what will happen. Paragraph 64 states that clause 1
“removes the current duty on the Secretary of State in subsection (2) of section 1 to provide or secure the provision of services for the purposes of the health service.”
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That duty is absolutely core: the NHS was established to provide a universal, comprehensive health service, but that will soon be gone. It is worrying that the Secretary of State did not appear to understand the implications of competition law, or to know what was being repealed in his own Bill.
The Government have suggested that these functions will now be the duty of the NHS commissioning board and the GP consortia, but the exercise of the functions will be discretionary. There will be no requirement to provide those services. So I repeat that the Bill will take away the duty to provide a comprehensive, universal health service.
Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con): Will the hon. Lady give way?
Debbie Abrahams: No, I am sorry, I am going to make progress so that everyone gets a chance to speak.
The Government have also said that the NHS commissioning board will ensure that NHS delivery is free from political control, but I am not so sure about that. The Bill contains a variety of contradictions, particularly in relation to the Secretary of State’s appointments to the various quangos. Another of the founding principles under threat from this Government is that treatment should be based on clinical need and not the ability to pay. We heard the Secretary of State say that that would be protected, but the Government’s reorganisation of the NHS will result in opening up that fundamental principle. The NHS commissioning board and the GP consortia will have the power to generate income, perhaps by charging for non-designated services. What constitutes designated and non-designated services has yet to be defined, however. My hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) tried to get some elucidation on that, but none was forthcoming.
Mr Lansley: Will the hon. Lady give way?
Debbie Abrahams: No, I am sorry, I want to make some progress—[Hon. Members: “Give way!”]
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order.
Debbie Abrahams: Not only are the founding principles of the NHS in danger of being wiped out, but its culture—the reason that most of its employees work for the NHS—will go as well. The whole ethos of the NHS will change. It will now be driven by competition and consumer interests—[ Interruption. ]
Debbie Abrahams: My first question to the Secretary of State was about the proposal that the NHS commissioning board will be able to award bonuses to the GP consortia that it deems to be adopting innovative measures. The Bill states:
“The Board may make payments as prizes to promote innovation in the provision of health services.”
That means bonuses within the NHS based on innovation, which is anathema to the NHS and not what we want for it. This is indicative of the Bill as a whole. Central to
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the reforms are increasing competition across the NHS and opening it up to providers from the private and voluntary sectors. The Government claim that increasing competition drives down costs and improves quality, but there is evidence from across the world—in the US and Europe—that that is not the case. It does not improve quality at all in health care systems.
Although I am glad to see that the Government have reversed their position on price competition, as of yesterday they were still wedded to establishing Monitor as a powerful economic regulator with the duty to promote competition. As has been pointed out, our health services will be subject to EU competition law for the first time. By forcing these GP consortia to put any services out to competitive tender—even if they are working well and patients and the public are happy with them—the Bill encourages “any willing provider” to—
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order.
5.41 pm
John Pugh (Southport) (LD): I am glad to be called to speak. I had a hand in drafting both amendments and the motion in that it is taken from the Liberal Democrat conference. I appear to be responsible for the lot, so I may be a parliamentary first.
I begin by stating the blindingly obvious: the Health and Social Care Bill is in trouble. There is hostility to it from the professions, anxiety about it among the public, concern in the Cabinet and an unease that can be felt spreading in all sections and all parties in this House and the other place. That is just a fact, and it matters more than the political knockabout here or any loss of face, because the effects of the policy—for good or ill, for better or worse—announced with unseemly and misguided haste last June are going to be felt in every home in the country.
Nadine Dorries: I thank the hon. Gentleman for having the good grace to give way. Would he describe the 5,000 GPs who agreed to be part of the pathfinder consortia as “uneasy”? It appears to me that they are incredibly enthusiastic to get going.
John Pugh: I think it is Hobson’s choice.
This is not the first health reform—the last Government introduced more “step changes” than could fill an episode of “Strictly Come Dancing”—but it is certainly the biggest, the most expensive and possibly the most risky. The Secretary of State seems to have chosen for himself a path on which future generations will either put up statues to him or burn him in effigy. However, it is no longer his Bill; it is our Bill. No Secretary of State currently commands a majority in this House.
This Parliament may act like all the others hitherto—and, sadly, it usually does, as it has largely done today—but it is not like any other Parliament. There is no party in this House with a majority, so we should dump the tribalism, the point scoring and the political games. We can get round to doing what we have to do and what we need to do. We have the chance to scrutinise, to seek to amend and improve—and, if unsatisfied, the chance to reject the Bill on Third Reading. That applies to Members of all parties. It is not just “top-down reorganisation” of the health service that we should have dropped with the
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coalition; we should have dropped “top-down legislation”, whereby MPs simply become pawns in a wider political game, and conviction takes second place to coercion.
There has never been a Secretary of State who has looked at the NHS and found it to be perfect and incapable of improvement. That is largely because we demand so many incompatible things of it that any incarnation is unlikely to satisfy all. Each successive Secretary of State suggests proposals for reform, rather like the Flying Dutchman in a hopeless and sadly doomed pursuit of the ideal format for the NHS. I have to say that the current Secretary of State is probably better equipped for this eternal task than any others: he is committed, passionate, well informed—probably the best informed Secretary of State we have had for some time—and he is brave. He voyages on, undeterred by the siren voices of think-tanks from right and left and the warnings about costs and practical difficulties, and unfazed by the lack of enthusiasm, if the polls are to be believed, among the NHS crew and staff. Of course, as a Liberal Democrat I am disinclined to believe polls at the moment. He carries on, unmindful of the uncharted nature of the course he has set. In Committee, we found real gaps in the understanding of how things will proceed. It is not that he is unaware of the possible danger, but the big danger is that any potential shipwreck will cause us all to be engulfed if costs overrun, if productivity falls, if hospitals close, if waiting lists grow, if morale declines, or if the NHS appears to be denatured, privatised, and not safe in our hands. That is why Parliament’s role is so important in this context, and why good argument rather than the Government machine must prevail.
Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD): I pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend is doing on the Bill. Does he agree that, as with the forestry decision, the coalition shows its strength when it actually listens to the concerns that are out there, and is that not exactly what we need the Government to do at this stage?
John Pugh: Indeed. In the circumstances that my hon. Friend cites, both coalition parties listened to the voices that they heard and took serious note of them.
It would be unsafe to draw any conclusions from the voting patterns today. Political gamesmanship and party loyalties will prevail. However, it is not necessary to hang around the Lobbies much to see that a corrosive unease is spreading through Government ranks, even in the most unlikely quarters, and to see how opposition hardens with every defiant, unbending rebuttal from the Richmond house bunker. We must accept that the Committee, for all its forensic talent, will not solve the problem; we must concentrate on Report and Third Reading, and on the debates that will take place offstage beforehand.
This is our Bill, not the Secretary of State’s. It will not come about unless we vote for it. Even the most calculating, the most tribal, the most ambitious of us—but not, possibly, the most stupid—must see the clear risks as well as recognising the opportunities. If we get it right, reform can take place with the grain of professional and expert opinion, without Ministers’ ceasing to be ambitious for the NHS, and with broad political support in the House and in the country, and arguably it will work better as a result. However, it will require dialogue.
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It is a profound irony that the Government want to abolish what they call the command and control model of the NHS by means of a command and control model of legislation. Indeed, they issued a Command Paper over the Christmas period, but then Richmond house does not do irony. If Parliament is to help the Government to climb out of the hole into which they threw themselves last June when the White Paper announced the liberation of the NHS, we need genuinely constructive, open dialogue, and we need it to start here. Perhaps, in order to liberate the NHS, we need to liberate Parliament a little bit first.
5.47 pm
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab): It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Southport (John Pugh). Like him, I am a member of the Public Bill Committee considering the Health and Social Care Bill, and I always listen intently to his well-informed and reasoned speeches. I think that many Opposition Members, at least, will agree with what he has said today.
The Government’s proposed changes will fundamentally alter the nature of the health care system for the worse. That opinion is held not only by Opposition Members but by numerous experts, including the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Surgeons, to name but a few. I am pleased to say that we now know that the Liberal Democrats agree with us on this issue, but it is not enough for them to talk tough. They must do what they say they can do. They should not just sit on the fence. They have a real opportunity to prove to the electorate that they can change Government policy when it is damaging and destructive to their constituents.
The damage that this policy will do is, in my view, irrevocable. Let us make no mistake: the Government are ripping the N from the NHS. They are planning, by stealth, a wholesale change in the structure of our health service system. The plans are damaging and, without question, revolutionary rather than evolutionary.
Nadine Dorries: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Karl Turner: Not at the moment.
The Government Front-Bench team and its Lib Dem colleagues can argue against what I say until they are blue in the face, but we know what the reality is. The chief executive of the NHS, Sir David Nicholson, says:
“The scale of the change is enormous—beyond anything that anybody from the public or private sector has witnessed”.
When we bear in mind the context of the plans, the destruction to the NHS becomes very apparent. The plans are to be implemented at a time when the NHS is to make £20 billion in efficiency savings. This is a costly, unnecessary and reckless top-down reorganisation of the NHS, and it is without any real mandate. The coalition agreement clearly states that the new Government will stop the top-down reorganisation of the NHS. Instead, we are faced with a reorganisation that is described as being so big
“you can see it from space.”
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con): The hon. Gentleman seems to favour top-down organisation of the NHS. Does he agree with his party’s shadow Health Minister, the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), who said:
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“Many staff are disillusioned and disempowered by the top-down target driven approach that has dominated much of the last decade of health policy”—
Karl Turner: I am well aware of my hon. Friend’s remarks, and they were made in a very different context, but let us listen to the BMA. Yesterday, it held its first extraordinary meeting for 20 years. Interestingly, it has convened two emergency meetings in the past 20 years, both of them under a Tory Government. It is the same old Tory story: they cannot be trusted with the NHS.
The most damaging part of these plans is the competition aspect. The Secretary of State’s smokescreen about GP commissioning is designed simply to divert attention from the underlying plans, which are, as Baroness Williams has said, privatisation by stealth, and Professor Ham of the King’s Fund correctly asserts that the commissioning reforms