My Lords, I thank all who have participated in this debate. I can respond immediately to the point that has just been made. Our concern about these clauses is not about their existence but about their unintended consequences. The general view is that regulators should do their business in a way that aids society. The vehicle here for society is growth, but forget that—what we are talking about is getting regulators to have a wider concern for society. That is not contested; what is contested is whether the wording is safe and does not have grave unintended consequences. As I said at the beginning, and as the debate has proved in its sheer volume, depth and complexity, these clauses go to the essence of regulation, which is so important.
I very much thank the Minister for his offer to have discussions off the Floor. I think we will probably have to have discussions about discussions first, because we would have to try to bring some focus to those discussions. Clearly, with the CQC, we would particularly like their representatives in one form or another to try to explain how these growth clauses might affect it.
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I particularly noted the noble Lord emphasising that the bite of these clauses will come about by secondary legislation. I also note that the Government are proposing the affirmative procedure, but of course it will be unamendable. It is therefore crucial that we have our discussions before then, to make sure that, when the instruments come forward, they meet the needs and concerns that have been debated today.
The only set of words I would like to pick up on at the moment relate to the sense that the “weight” to be given to these clauses is for the regulators. That will be an important area of discussion. I am very clear in my mind that regulators must not, in any way, take the view that the growth clause diminishes the reasonable protection that is brought to individuals and society. We will tease that out in our discussions. The Minister used lots of words which sounded as though he agreed with us, such as complement, balance, tweaking, supplementary and so on. Hopefully, he can grab hold of those words and concentrate them into a little amendment which will have the effect of putting the concept of balance in this area into the right place.
Finally, I entirely take his point, which I hope was in the contributions that he has heard, that we should not have any silly ideas about eliminating risk. Living is about risk management. Most people do not think of it in that way because they are not involved in it, but in our day to day lives, we manage risk. We look to regulators to help us to manage risk in our lives in such a way that we can live good and interesting lives full of growth. We are all on the same side, but if our fears comes to pass, these three clauses could wreak havoc in a regulatory regime within this country that, generally speaking, is doing pretty well. With those comments, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.