The Earl of Effingham (Con)

My Lords, these amendments make fundamental changes to the process by which a person is able to access assistance with ending their life under the Bill. It is clear that the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, has put great care and thought into these proposals, drawing on her decades-long, extensive experience in medicine. The noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, put it so well when she said that “years of work” and thinking on how this will work have been done by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay. Amendment 333 replaces the doctor’s assessment with the multidisciplinary panel process, bringing skills and knowledge from the health sector, the social work sector and the justice sector, including 10 years of minimum relevant experience. Our understanding is that the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, is seeking to strengthen the safeguards for people who are seeking an assisted death, which was also referenced by the noble Lord, Lord Harper. We know from previous groups already debated, and indeed this very group, that many noble Lords are profoundly concerned about vulnerable individuals. On the basis of what appears prima facie to be a widespread sentiment in your Lordships’ House, may we ask whether the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, agrees that potentially more can be done to safeguard those vulnerable people and ensure that they are not pressured into seeking assistance under the Bill? If the noble and learned Lord were to acknowledge these concerns and accept relevant amendments, will the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, please set out any assessment that the Government may have researched regarding the practical solutions required to implement the proposals of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay—points touched on by the noble Baroness, Lady Cass, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss? Will the Minister also give your Lordships’ House a sense of the Government’s view on the balance that they will need to strike between the risks of a vulnerable individual dying in a circumstance where their capacity, understanding or will might be in doubt versus the practicality of delivering an assisted dying service?