As the Bill reaches its Committee stage, there is considerable opportunity for amendments to be tabled to shape, refine and improve it.
But how will the group of MPs sitting on the Health and Care Bill Committee, with their varying backgrounds, interpret, deliberate, and amend this landmark legislation? Alongside some old hands returning to see through this latest piece of health legislation, the Committee includes fresh faces who have expressed interests in adult social care, maternal health, workforce, and of course, the success of ICSs.
Discussion around the shift towards more integrated care systems (ICS) and the strengthening of power in Whitehall will no doubt dominate much of the discussion, together with consideration as to whether the Bill will complete its passage in time for ICSs to be up and running. Indeed, one Committee member has already signalled their intention to vote against the increased powers of the Secretary of State.
Unsurprisingly, a strong majority of the Committee have previously expressed interest in how the increased statutory standings of ICSs will function and we will likely understand more of the detail and their implications as the discussions progress. It is also worth looking out for the nuanced experiences, activity and personal interests of the committee members, which will be crucial in understanding who are the ‘ones to watch’.
Five members of the committee previously voted against the Bill on party lines. Approaching the Bill constructively with a view to its improvement, particularly in areas such as the provision of mental health services, to the authority of ICS Boards, will be key considerations.
Pointers to the areas of focus for the Labour Party might be found in the work of their Policy Commissions, which have so far considered: The impact of COVID-19 (including mental health); securing a sustainable future for social care; supporting well-being and tackling mental ill-health; tackling health inequalities; and recruiting, retaining and supporting the workforce.
One of the sustained criticisms of the Bill has been the lack of a solution to the funding of social care. Whilst its omission is notable, it was not a surprise, and this is unlikely to feature significantly in terms of tangible amendments at Committee. MHP Mischief have researched the members of the Committee, to understand more about how their interests and backgrounds might inform their approach over the coming months.
As we continue to follow the Bill as it progresses through Parliament, we will look to provide analysis of the evolving process and its implications for those working in the sector.
We hope this analysis of the Health and Social Care Bill Committee provides you with further insight as you continue your engagement programmes for 2021
Bill Watch: Who Will Be Scrutinising The Health And Care Bill?
Bill-Watch-Who-Will-Be-Scrutinising-The-Health-And-Care-Bill
Sign up to our mailing list:
"*" indicates required fields
MHP Group’s Public Affairs team, who were up in Manchester this week, assess whether the Prime Minister has succeeded or if his ambitious attempt at a reset was derailed by arguments over HS2, poor...See More
Read on for what brands can learn from the reaction to sustainability u-turns and see how we tackled food waste, brought nature to a neglected part of East London and made ‘buildbackability’ front...See More
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category . |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
PHPSESSID | session | This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_gat_gtag_UA_12122976_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
vuid | 2 years | Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
wc_session_ids[all_forms] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[default] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][0] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][1] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][2] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][3] | 8 minutes | No description |
wc_session_ids[multi][4] | 8 minutes | No description |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__cf_bm | 30 minutes | This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management. |
__sharethis_cookie_test__ | session | ShareThis sets this cookie to track which pages are being shared and by whom. |