My Lords, I am the first to agree that these are very important issues. I cannot do justice to explaining where we are with them at the moment and I ask both noble Lords for their indulgence. I will write to both of them and provide more information on this subject.
I was referring to the role of the CQC, which has the power to act in response to any concerns and to take enforcement action where services are failing people. Failure to comply with the requirements is an offence and, under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers that it can use if the provider is not compliant. These range from issuing a warning notice and fines through to cancelling a provider’s registration. The new Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care will be in post from October and will provide additional focus on quality issues in care and support.
I repeat my reassurance to the noble Lord, Lord Warner, that the Government fully agree with the intention behind the amendment—that employment standards and workforce issues are fundamental to quality care—but I hope I have demonstrated that there is a wide range of activity bearing down on poor practice and that the variety of existing law and other non-statutory approaches mean that further legislation is not required. I hope the noble Lord will feel reassured enough to withdraw the amendment on that basis.