Appendix 2: Correction by DHSC of Information on the Dissolution of Public Health England
Letter from Maggie Throup MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health, to Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts
It has been brought to my attention by the Committee Clerk that there was an inaccuracy in the Explanatory Memorandums (EMs) for two Statutory Instruments (SIs) recently laid.
In the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s 13th Report House of Lords - Thirteenth Report - Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (parliament.uk), the EMs for the Public Health England (PHE) (Dissolution) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/974) and the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Transfer of Public Health England Staff) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/975) stated that health functions would be transferring from Public Health England to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The reference to CQC is incorrect and results from an administrative error. I can confirm that no functions from PHE have transferred to CQC, and that the reference to CQC has no bearing on the SI, or the effect of the SI itself. We have withdrawn the EMs and laid new EMs removing this reference. I apologise on behalf of the Department for this error, and trust that our efforts have sufficiently addressed the issue.
The EMs also reference the Office for Health Promotion, which was the interim name for the part of the Department of Health and Social Care that from the 1st October is responsible for improving the nation’s health and tackling health inequalities. Since the EMs were laid, we have announced that this important capability will be named the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. We have taken the opportunity of re-laying also to update the relevant references.
Thank you to the Committee for bringing this to my attention.
11 October 2021