[2nd Allocated Day]

The Minister has not said it before in a public realm of which I am aware. He certainly did not say it in the Public Bill Committee, all 40-odd sessions of which I feel I sat through. The Minister knows that the issue is crucial, because the Future Forum that he commissioned said so. Indeed, it said that"““one of the most widely voiced criticisms of the proposed changes was a deeply felt concern at the risks to healthcare education and training in England posed by the fast pace of change.””" The Government responded by saying:"““we will introduce an explicit duty for the Secretary of State to maintain a system for professional education and training as part of the comprehensive health service.””" We are still waiting. What will that duty look like? [Interruption.] The Minister says ““We have said that we are going to do it””, but here we are, eight months and 1,500 amendments later. How long must we wait? Are we sure that we will see the duty introduced in the House of Lords? Are we positive about that? I must say that I am not certain about it.