§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the formal and informal consultation exercises conducted by(i) his Department and (ii) the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions which are (a) current and (b) recently completed and which are relevant to the matters covered by the Care Standards Bill [Lords]. [104177]
§ Mr. HuttonThe matters covered by the Care Standards Bill (Lords) have been subject to extensive consultation over a long period. Many of the measures were set out in the White Paper "Modernising Social Services" (Cm 4169—copies of which are available in the Library), which followed various consultation exercises. The matters relating to private and voluntary healthcare were subject to consultation following the publication of "Regulating Private and Voluntary Healthcare: A Consultation Document", copies of which are available in the Library.
Since the Bill's publication, I and my Ministerial colleagues, and officials in the Department have held a number of discussions about the provisions of the Bill with representatives of provider interests, service user groups and professional interests. The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has held no consultations specific to the Care Standards Bill.