§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons he was unable to act prior to publication of the Waterhouse report in extending the consultancy index to include people named in that report. [115848]
§ Mr. HuttonWe were unable to act on the information contained in the Waterhouse report until after the report had been presented to Parliament. However, following publication, immediate action was taken to extend the Department's consultancy index to include eligible named individuals who had been convicted of offences against children or against whom a clear finding had been made in the report. This action enabled us to include on the index individuals falling into these categories who had not previously been referred to the index through another route.