Health and Social Care Bill

I thank the noble Baroness for giving such consideration to the amendments. I will certainly go away and read the text of what she said. I simply put this matter to her: in Clause 35, all but one of the bodies listed is a health body. I come back again to the point that we are dealing with social care as well as health. I think that she is wrong to underestimate the importance of the General Social Care Council in the provision of staff and standards by which employers in the fields of social care are judged. The General Social Care Council is a key player in that. She also underestimates the importance of the Charity Commission, given that provision of services is becoming much more diverse and fragmented. My view is that it is not appropriate that those two bodies, in particular, are included only in a general catch-all in subsection (1)(d), but I will take away what she said and return to it. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 53B and 54 not moved.]