Health and Social Care Bill

My Lords, I have amendments in this group to which I shall speak briefly. The noble Baroness, Lady Williams, introduced her amendments clearly and concisely. Some figures from the latest Health Service Journal underpin the reason why these amendments are so important. It has reported that foundation trusts are planning to cut at least 30,500 staff over the coming two years and that at least five acute foundation trusts have forecast a wage-bill cut of 10 per cent or more over the coming two years. According to the Health Service Journal’s analysis, patients in the poorest areas are 63 per cent more likely to find it difficult to see a GP than are patients in the richest locations, and 53 per cent more likely to attend accident and emergency. I put those figures into the debate now because they demonstrate the pressure there will be on trusts. Changing to foundation trust status will put additional pressure on them. Amendment 304C in my name is a probing amendment. I tabled it to seek reassurance from the Government that the timetable for repealing NHS trust legislation will not revert to the originally proposed date—1 April 2014. I hope that the deadline will be extended to April 2020. I was going to say more but I await the Minister’s reply.