Health Bill [HL]

I am most grateful to the Minister for that optimistic reply and for answering the question "When?" by stating that by Easter we should see something. I hope that that will be before this amendment has to appear on Report, if it needs to—I hope that it will not need to. I am extremely grateful to all Members of the Committee who spoke. I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Cumberlege, that I spoke to Elizabeth Buggins about the amendment; she was supportive. The noble Lord, Lord Walton, said that this is permissive and the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, referred to the need to be able to express how you would wish to be disposed of after death. The Mental Capacity Act, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, referred, requires something in writing for advance decisions to refuse treatment. When the best-interest decision is being made on behalf of someone who has lost capacity and their advance statement of wishes is being considered as part of that information, we are obliged to seek the views of as broad a group as possible. We often have only the verbally expressed views of family and friends; you are looking for consistency in that verbally expressed view. Similarly, with funerary wishes, we will ask the family if they know how the person wished to be disposed of. Very often, there will be only a comment about burial or cremation—that is what guides the way in which the body is disposed of. It is quite rare to have that in writing. I went through the guidance on the Mental Capacity Act to address the point that was raised. I hope that that has answered it. I had a helpful conversation with James Neuberger about the monitoring that is needed. We discussed possibly asterisking on the register—or however—and about monitoring the outcome. I understand that there may be difficulties if this is locked in primary legislation and if there needs to be a subsequent review, because it would need further primary legislation to undo it. With those comments and the overwhelming support that I have had from all parts of the Committee—noble Lords who are not here today have also expressed overwhelming support for this amendment—I beg leave, holding the Minister to her Easter promise, to withdraw the amendment.