Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, the break between Committee and Report has allowed me to reflect on the debate we had on the unsustainable provider regime. I brought forward Amendments 38 and 39 in response to the insightful comments made by the noble Earl, Lord Howe. He said that there was a need for the Secretary of State to explain the reasons behind his final decision, particularly if he does not follow one or more of the trust special administrators’ recommendations. It is worth stressing at this point, given the transparent process set out in the Bill, that we expect that it would be unusual for the Secretary of State to depart significantly from the trust special administrators’ recommendations. As I said in Committee, it was always intended that the Secretary of State would give reasons for his final decision. On reflection, I think that the noble Earl made a compelling case for including such a requirement in the Bill. I agree that the Bill will benefit from the clarification on the point to achieve a level of transparency that will help build confidence in this process. These amendments would place a requirement on the Secretary of State to explain the reasons for his decision in the notice of his decision in proposed new Section 65K(2) and 65W(2). I hope noble Lords agree that this amendment increases the transparency of the scheme, and I thank the noble Earl for suggesting this important improvement. I beg to move.