NHS Redress Bill [HL]

I thank the Minister for that full reply and I am grateful for the helpful intervention from the noble Lord, Lord Rowlands. I have huge respect for the noble Lord and I would not question for a moment that there are good arguments for granting further powers to the Assembly. The only point that troubles me is that it would appear that we have here a clause that relates to a particular class of matters, which will allow the Assembly to operate independently in relation to those matters. Perhaps in other Bills to come before Parliament before too long there will be similar clauses in relation to completely different types of matter arising from the same set of recommendations in the White Paper. I am just a little troubled that that process is piecemeal and in effect will allow the transfer of powers to take place, not covertly because we are considering them, but certainly somewhat silently. The cumulative effect of the transfer is not immediately apparent to Parliament. I would have been more comfortable if we had had a Bill before us implementing the White Paper as an entity, to enable the issue to be more high profile; one that was fairly and squarely in front of Parliament so that we could consider it on its merits. We can consider this clause in isolation and I certainly understand the rationale for it. However, I have hesitations about it that I have just explained. The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee described this set of powers as ““exceptionally wide””. The noble Baroness has dealt with that point in part, but of course she was able to give examples only of measures which the Assembly might choose to amend. I am still not clear about how widely these powers will range. It is important that we understand how wide they are and their potential for use by the Assembly. That, too, leaves me feeling a little uncomfortable. I say again that I have no reason to doubt the honourable motives and sound reasons for wanting to see the process of devolution continue, but I do not feel sufficiently equipped to say whether or not I approve the presence of this clause in the Bill. This may be something to which we need to return on Report, not necessarily in an aggressive way, but in order to explore the matter further. However, we have had a useful debate and for now I am sure that the Committee will be content to allow the clause to remain part of the Bill.