Stephen Kinnock

I will make some progress, if I may. Amendment 87 would require the co-ordinating doctor to “take all reasonable steps” to establish whether a first declaration had previously been made, so it may slow down the process for accessing assisting dying. Amendment 45 would significantly impact the operability of the Bill. It would duplicate the role of the assisted dying review panel, and place an additional burden on the co-ordinating doctor to convene the clinical panel. It would also require additional NHS and social care resources, particularly palliative care consultants. That could slow down a person’s access to an assisted death, because there is no requirement on when the panel must be convened, and it could take some time to set up, given the demands on health and social care professionals. The amendment does not specify who is to be on the clinical panel in situations where the co-ordinating doctor is neither a GP nor a consultant. Similarly, there is no provision for whether the clinical panel is to make its decisions unanimously or by majority. Amendment 48 would require significant changes to the functions and focus of the bodies that are proposed to present arguments to the panel as to why a certificate of eligibility could not be granted. Where an official solicitor acts as an advocate to the court, their purpose is to assist the court on a difficult or novel point of law, not to perform an adversarial function. Similarly, there is no precedent for the Attorney General, His Majesty’s Procurator General or the Treasury Solicitor to intervene in a case in the way that is envisaged, as their roles are to act on behalf of, or provide advice to, the Government, and not to represent a specific argument. In the Government’s view, there are no existing public bodies that are well suited to undertaking this adversarial role.