Contribution
My Lords, I have spoken already about how my experience as a Member in the other place has made me very concerned about this Bill, and more determined that it must not be a cause of further harm to vulnerable people. Many unanswered questions about the Bill before us have been raised during the course of this important debate. This is why I have tabled the amendment and the following Motion to hold a Select Committee before Committee of the whole House begins.
This is a significant and complex piece of legislation by any definition. It demands a process that can withstand the weight, but it is clear that there are serious shortcomings, as both the Constitution Committee and the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee noted in their reports last week. Indeed, I am concerned that the legislative process is being asked to compensate for the absence of robust policy-making before the Bill was published: no comprehensive review; no public consultation or prior engagement with professionals and other stakeholders; no Green Paper or White Paper, which we would have seen had it been a government Bill—I understand the case made for why it is not a government Bill, but that has diminished what is before us today; and no published analysis of international experiences. Instead, Parliament has been asked to grapple with questions about implementation, safeguards and NHS implications without this groundwork, which we would usually turn to for a law change of this magnitude.
Back in March, Jill Rutter of the Institute for Government—which is neutral on the principle of assisted dying—said:
“We’re expecting Commons scrutiny to do far too much—things it simply can’t do … Commons scrutiny is being left to solve a whole range of problems it isn’t equipped to deal with”.
We have seen the dropping of key but expensive safeguards, such as the review by a High Court judge, and whole new clauses and schedules introduced to replace them with very little opportunity for thorough scrutiny.
It was a clear pattern in the other place that when significant concerns were raised that had not been anticipated, the response was often to add another delegated power. There are now, as we know, 42 delegated powers contained within the Bill: 42 areas where government will work out the detail later, with Parliament largely excluded from the conversation. The result is a Bill that is today substantially different from when the Bill Committee in the other place took evidence in January this year, but now with less clarity.
I do not wish to detain the House any longer than is necessary, but I have been asked many questions on the process about what is before us, which I will seek to address. My amendment ensures that we can have some evidence, expertise and insight on the Bill before us today. We need this information before we commence line-by-line scrutiny.
Noble Lords will have received a letter setting out a condensed list of witnesses that I and other supporters believe this House must hear from, including my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton and those who will bear the responsibility for delivering the Bill, should it pass, and setting out how they would use their delegated powers. These witnesses are to include the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the chief executive of NHS England, the Secretary of State for Justice and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
We must also take evidence from the professional bodies whose members will be asked to carry out the functions that the Bill sets out: the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Association of Social Workers and the Law Society.
We are, of course, not able to hear from serving members of the judiciary, but may hear from the former Chief Coroner of England, Thomas Teague KC, and Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division of the High Court. We must also ensure that we understand the impact of the Bill on our hospices and care homes, through Hospice UK, the Association for Palliative Medicine and Care England.
A previous suggestion of a Select Committee in parallel, alongside a Committee of the whole House, would not achieve—