NHS Redress Bill [HL]

My Lords, I welcome the supportive comments of the noble Earl, Lord Howe. He rightly characterised our amendment as an attempt to put patients back into the middle of the process. I listened carefully to the Minister and his caution about including explanatory text in legislation. The more this Government come up with Bills that are set—almost entirely sometimes—in terms of regulatory powers, the more this side of the House will seek clearer explanations in legislation. However, I take on board what he said about some elements where there is a lack of clarity. I would very much welcome a letter from him setting out in detail his criticism of the proposed text. At this stage, therefore, I am happy to take the amendment away. However, I do not resile for one moment from the general point of the amendment: the fact-finding process should be independent, and a person who feels they have a case should have a number of alternative routes that are clearly set out and made known to them. We have sought to address those deficiencies in the Bill, perhaps not perfectly in this text. We will return to them in some detail on later amendments. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 1 [Power to establish redress scheme]: