Simon Hamilton
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I have emphasised to the Member and the House before, that, whilst I accept that those are not good enough — that is why we have been developing the plan — there are alternative technologies in place that can present opportunities for those who just cannot get acceptable speeds.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. There are some initiatives that I believe will help and act as a driver to improve broadband access. One such intervention is the broadband universal service obligation (USO), which is being taken forward by Her Majesty's Government.”
“I thank the Member for his question. However, he is conflating two issues. I wrote to his party leader, and indeed to all Assembly party leaders, before making the announcement that I did last week about wanting to publish the details of the businesses in receipt of the non-domestic RHI scheme. It was my intention to do that tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chancellor, in his autumn statement, made some more funding available for telecommunications, and my Department is studying that and seeking to avail itself of that to the fullest possible extent.”
“In addition, my Department is managing a contract for the delivery of the superfast rollout programme, which, by 31 December, will provide access to superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24 megabits per second to a further 38,000 premises, both business and residential, across Northern Ireland, including in the Newry and Armagh cons…”
“I signalled the intention to do this a few weeks ago. The Member and the House will know that inspections of all installations would have taken place over the 20-year lifetime of the RHI scheme.”
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“— would suffer, Mr Attwood said that it was a price worth paying — a price worth paying. So, more people on waiting lists as a result were, according to the SDLP, a price worth paying for its position on welfare reform. <BR /> <BR />I accept that waiting lists are too long. That is why we are trying to address them and why we have put an additional £40 million in this year to be topped up by an additional £30 million next year. That will see 150,000 extra people across Northern Ireland getting the treatments, the procedures, the tests and the appointments they have been waiting for. Whilst I hear a lot of criticism from the Member and his party about waiting lists and various other things, they are very silent when it comes to having an alternative plan about how to take the health service forward.”
“Mr Attwood, the Member for West Belfast came into the House during debates on welfare reform and, when it was put to him that all that money would be lost and that, as a consequence, public services, including health —”
“I am sure that the Member will reflect on the factual inaccuracy that I cut investment on waiting lists. The reason why contracts with the independent sector and in-house activity had to be turned down in recent years was as a direct consequence of the fact that the Executive lost £200 million as a result of welfare reform penalties. Those were penalties that his party colleague the Member for West Belfast came into the House —”
“That is why we have been investing the money that we have — the £40 million plus the additional £30 million that will help 150,000 people across Northern Ireland get the tests, procedures, operations and diagnostics that they require. <BR /> <BR />We need to continue that investment and that is why I am very pleased that my party leader the First Minister has indicated that one of her priorities for the next Assembly term will be health expenditure. I agree wholeheartedly with her when she says that we need to reform our system. We all know that we need to reform our system, but we also need to spend a minimum of £1 billion extra on health over the next five years to ensure that we can get to grips with waiting lists and reform our system.”
“There is a constant churn of people coming out at one end of the list and those going on to the list at the other end. This is reflected in the fact that there has been a 14% increase in the number of referrals. Never mind any issues with finance — and those are pertinent issues — there has been a 14% increase in the number of people referred by their GPs or others to hospital for outpatient and other appointments. <BR /> <BR />We have to keep our focus on continued investment in getting to grips with the problem. I accept and acknowledge that waiting lists are too long in Northern Ireland, and it is one of my key priorities to address that problem.”
“The Member is right that we can invest, and we are investing. We should note and welcome the additional investment that I announced in the last number of days, on top of the £40 million that is going in this year. Sometimes, I think that people think that this is the only money going towards addressing waiting lists. It is on top of what might be described as the ordinary activity by our trusts, which ensures that around 600,000 inpatient day cases go on a year and around 1·5 million outpatient consultant-led appointments take place. This is additional to that. <BR /> <BR />The Member is right to identify that, when you remove somebody, somebody else comes in at the other end of a waiting list. Sometimes, people move from one waiting list to another — from an outpatient list to an inpatient one or via, say, a diagnostic list.”
“Importantly, it will see a £10 million investment in diagnostic services, building capacity to support up to 50,000 additional tests to help meet increasing demands, as well as supporting seven-day services. That further £30 million follows the Executive's earlier allocation of £40 million, and the combined £70 million will ensure in the region of 150,000 extra assessments, tests and procedures. Also, many children awaiting assessments for autism will benefit from the £2 million I recently allocated for that specific area. <BR /> <BR />It is clear that it will take some time and significant non-recurrent and recurrent investment to bring waiting lists back to acceptable levels while increasing capacity to meet increasing demand. My commitment to an additional £30 million is an important step to ensuring continued progress.”
“Provisional figures for February this year show that those waiting more than 18 weeks for an outpatient appointment has fallen by 6%, and those waiting longer than 26 weeks for an inpatient day case has fallen by 13%. It is clear that the investments we are directing towards waiting lists are making a difference. Slowly but surely, we are getting to grips with our waiting lists. <BR /> <BR />On Sunday, I announced the allocation of £30 million of additional funding to continue tackling waiting lists. That additional funding will support up to 25,000 additional assessments and some 12,000 additional treatments across a wide range of specialities, including orthopaedics, gastroenterology, neurology and ENT.”
“Improving waiting times continues to be one of my key priorities, and the vast majority of additional resources made available by the Executive through November monitoring are going directly towards tackling waiting times. That is expected to benefit around 70,000 patients who would otherwise be waiting for assessments, diagnostics and treatments. <BR /> <BR />I am pleased to say that delivery of that additional activity is progressing well. Most people will be seen between January and March this year, so the full extent will not become clear until early 2016-17. However, we are now seeing real reductions in the number of people waiting for assessment or treatment. Robust performance management figures are in place.”
“Figures rose during his time in office from £4·5 million to that £5·2 million, but they have been falling to a reasonably steady level ever since.”
“I am very happy to provide an update. I was not able to find the time to provide that to Mrs Overend, who was, I think, critical about the level of expenditure on taxis. I cannot remember what she exactly said, but she was certainly critical. The interesting point that the Member will, I am sure, appreciate is that the figures are falling and have been falling in recent years. They have been falling from a high of £5·2 million in 2009-2010. So, the cost was £400,000 higher in 2009-2010 than in the most recent financial year. The Member will remember, even if Mrs Overend has forgotten, who was Minister of Health in 2009-2010. In case anyone needs reminding, it was Michael McGimpsey of the Ulster Unionist Party.”
“Perhaps the Member would reflect on some of the uses of taxis. I think that sometimes the impression given is of people swanning about all over the country using these taxis, but they are used only in specific circumstances. There are strict guidelines on when they should be used. The sorts of things they are used for include providing safe transportation for children in care, transporting adult mental health outpatients, taking people to and from day centres, taking people to and from renal dialysis and taking social work staff to ensure that they can escort patients when they are going to hospital. <BR /> <BR />So, yes, it has the appearance of a large figure, but it is not, in the context of the overall budget, and it is being well used.”
“I am sure that, even if the Member cannot welcome the investment of a further £30 million in tackling waiting lists, many of the 150,000 people who will benefit from the £70 million that will be invested this calendar year will welcome the investment that has been made, which will ensure that they get the treatments, procedures and operations that they require. <BR /> <BR />The issue of taxi funding sometimes comes to the fore and gets a bit of concentration because it seems so very different from what is core business in a Department like mine. It is worth reflecting that the total expenditure of about £4·8 million last year is 0·1% of the total budget. <BR /> <BR />Using taxis provides a flexible and reliable service for the system, and it supplements our transportation fleet right across the health and social care system.”
“I am not quite sure what the question was. I am not even sure that the Member actually believes what she said in respect of some of the comments that she made. I do not want to pre-empt the question that is next up from Ms McCorley on waiting times, but I think that the Member should reflect on her slightly churlish comments around pre-election stunts and throwing piecemeal funding at waiting lists. <BR /> <BR />This is a serious issue, and there are too many people waiting for operations, procedures and tests in Northern Ireland.”
“The total amount spent on taxis by my Department and its arm's-length bodies in 2014-15 was £4,878,261. This covers all taxi use, including taxis for patients, social care clients and staff.”
“Obviously, that will be cumulative over the next number of years as those numbers start to move through the system. There is an issue with retention, which I am keen to address. Without having seen the response of the working group, I will be very surprised if it does not make a recommendation to do something in respect of trying to retain GPs in certain parts of the Province, particularly in the west and the north-west.”
“I accept and acknowledge the problem that they are facing, because the problems about which I responded to Ms Sugden are a little more pronounced in that part of Northern Ireland. The fact that we have a GP workforce where around a quarter are over 55 seems to be a much more pronounced problem in the west of the Province. Where you have many GP practices in the west of the Province that are single or have just two GPs, that adds to the pressures that people are facing. <BR /> <BR />One of the impacts of one of the initiatives, the £1·2 million investment in more GP training places, which is the biggest investment of its kind in over a decade, will see 20 more GPs go into training. Four of those GP training places will go into the Western Trust area to help to alleviate some of those problems.”
“As I hope I have indicated in the answers that I have given so far, I accept that there are pressures and I acknowledge that there is an issue with general practice. That is why we have been rolling out all the various initiatives and investments that we have been making. I accept that there are some parts of the Province where the problem is particularly acute compared with others. I am not saying, for example, that there are not issues in the Belfast or greater Belfast area, but there is certainly an acuteness of the problem in the west of the Province. <BR /> <BR />I recently visited not quite the Member's constituency but Fermanagh, along with the First Minister, to hear directly from GPs in that county about the difficulties that they are facing.”
“There will be financial savings. We anticipate that, by 2021, our investment will yield savings of around £16 million, so the scheme will pay for itself. There are also non-monetary benefits, including better prescribing. GPs will be able to do regular checks on what people are being prescribed and whether it is working for them. The initiative will reduce prescribing costs and increase capacity in GP surgeries. GPs will be able to use the pharmacists to remove some of the pressure that they face. Hopefully, it will also reduce the number of acute admissions. Therefore, a range of benefits, monetary and non-monetary, will be derived from this innovative initiative, which I was very pleased to announce last year.”
“It is something that I was pleased to announce towards the tail end of last year. As I mentioned in response to Ms Sugden, it was something that we had been working with GPs on. They suggested the idea, we piloted a scheme, and I was able to see a pilot scheme at the Arches practice at the bottom of the Holywood Road in Belfast. <BR /> <BR />We have been announcing a five-year investment that will start off quite small. There will be £2·6 million in the next financial year, rising to £14 million by 2020-21. Over five years, that will allow us to ramp up the number of pharmacists working alongside GP practices. Some will be full-time and some part-time. Some will be shared between a couple of practices. In more rural areas, it might be one day in practices over a wider area. <BR /> <BR />There are benefits in two areas.”
“We accept and acknowledge that, but we are not sitting back doing nothing. We are coming forward with a range of measures, many of which owe their origins to the profession suggesting them and the Department positively responding.”
“That is why a package of measures has been put in place to deal with the pressures that GPs face. I, too, have met individual GPs. I have met the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association. On top of the funding package of around £10 million that was put in place in April last year for a GP modernisation fund, some investment in skills and some investment in developing GP federations, we have made the biggest investment in 10 years, as I noted, by increasing GP training places to deal with GPs leaving and not being able to retain them. The working group itself is a response to a call from that sector for short-, medium- and long-term recommendations. The GP pharmacist initiative is something that GPs have called for. <BR /> <BR />Yes, there is a problem.”
“One issue in particular that the Member raised is not something that the Department or the board will ask GPs to do in the system. It is a matter for them to take on board themselves. Sometimes we forget that they are independent contractors, as opposed to people working directly for health trusts, the board or the Department. I accept that it is a profession that is under pressure. You just have to look at the increase in consultations. In 2008-09, there were 10·2 million consultations in Northern Ireland: that rose to 12·7 million in 2013-14, which was an increase of around a quarter. Clearly, that will put pressure on a GP workforce that is exceptionally good but is ageing, and those pressures are not helping to retain people in the system. <BR /> <BR />I acknowledge the pressures.”
“In addition, as part of an investment package of up to £5·1 million in 2015-16, new schemes have been introduced aimed at encouraging GPs who have left practice in Northern Ireland to return and supporting the existing GP workforce to remain in practice. Those actions are helping to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland continue to have timely access to sustainable, high-quality, GP-led primary care services.”
“<BR /> <BR />I expect the working group's recommendations to build on actions that I have already taken to address the challenges that GPs face. I recently announced an investment of £1·2 million each year to commission an additional 20 GP training places, starting in 2016-17. That is the largest investment in GP training for more than 10 years and will increase the number of GP trainees to 85 per year from August 2016. In December, I announced a five-year investment initiative that will put close to 300 pharmacists in GP practices by 2021, easing pressures on GPs and ensuring that patients continue to receive a high-quality service.”
“In October last year, I established a working group to review the provision of GP-led care and to make recommendations aimed at ensuring the future sustainability of GP services. That working group has been led by my Department, and its membership includes a patient representative, GP representatives and members of the Health and Social Care Board, health and social care trusts, the Royal College of Nursing and the Allied Health Professions Federation. The group has met regularly since its establishment and has considered a wide range of issues, including the recruitment and retention of GPs and how best to support the existing GP workforce. The group is finalising its report, and I expect to receive a copy in the next few days. I will, of course, give careful consideration to its findings and recommendations.”
“A lot of the measures that have not, perhaps, been the focus of public or political attention are very good and are what trusts or any part of the public sector should do ordinarily to reduce costs and overheads at a time when we face significant budget pressures. At that time, we were facing significant budget pressures because of welfare reform fines, and the Executive losing £200 million was really beginning to bite, particularly in my Department. I am sure that some of those savings will be welcomed on all sides. Others that perhaps have a more obvious impact on service delivery are understandably controversial in nature, and I expect all trusts to take those decisions and make those recommendations on the basis of the fullness of evidence that they have before them.”
“Obviously, trusts operate as distinct entities. The Member characterises them as "cuts". Some of the contingency measures that were asked about in Mr Kennedy's question were for the 2014-15 financial year, and the total value of those contingency measures was around £16 million. Not all the measures that were suggested by trusts were accepted by the board, for example. Within that £16 million, yes, a few perhaps made the headlines and are the ones that people have focused and concentrated on, but I am sure that everybody in the House will agree that a lot of the savings in there are good ideas for where we should seek to save money. For example, they are around vacancy controls, reducing overtime, reducing the use of agency staff, administration, corporate management fees, locum rates and stopping clinical excellence awards.”
“That will be challenging in tough budgetary times for my Department, but I am clear that it is an appropriate award for our hard-working staff, who, I am sure, will warmly welcome the decision.”
“Hopefully, I will be able to give those who are waiting some good news now. The Assembly will know that I recently announced that I would ask the independent NHS Pay Review Body for a recommendation about a 2016-17 pay award and indicated that I would honour its conclusions. I have now received the Pay Review Body's response. It suggests that certain economic factors particular to Northern Ireland could point towards the option of a nil award and states that it has seen no evidence that large numbers of staff are leaving Northern Ireland because of pay. However, it recommends a 1% increase for all Agenda for Change staff in Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the United Kingdom, and I am happy to confirm that I am accepting its recommendation for a 1% pay award.”
“That is why I have tried to change the conversation around trying to take a long-term view about the need to reform our services, taking decisions that are in the best interests of the people and patients that our health and social care system is there to serve and to give a clear understanding to people as to why a particular decision is being taken and why that will produce a better outcome for them, because, at the end of the day, the patient is the most important part of our system.”
“<BR /> <BR />In respect of the overall position about whether it is the best way to make efficiencies, I am on the record since becoming Minister as saying that, when you have a situation where you are making efficiencies or savings on the basis of budgetary pressures, it will sometimes — even though the decisions are probably in the best interests of the community that we seek to serve — give the impression of not being strategic or long-term.”
“My understanding from the trust — and these are all decisions that are taken by the trusts, not by the Department, in order to live within their budget in the financial year — was based on many pieces of evidence, but not least the fact that the number of people attending that minor injuries unit in Armagh was only four per hour on average. Some of that resource has been moved to Craigavon to assist the situation there with the emergency department.”
“The Member made a very good point at the outset, which I will come back to in the broader context of the best way to make savings or efficiencies. The Member was a member of the Executive in 2014-15, and he will recall the acuity of the situation in respect of public finances at that time because of the issues surrounding welfare reform and not progressing that, and the fines that were starting to impact on what was not my Department then but is my Department now, and what was previously his Department. <BR /> <BR />In respect of decisions, particularly for the Armagh minor injuries unit, the Member will know that it was a temporary closure. A final decision has not been taken to make that permanent.”
“In response to the significant financial challenges facing my Department in the 2014-15 financial year, the health and social care trusts prepared a range of contingency proposals to help them meet their statutory obligation to deliver financial break-even in that year. The measures proposed by trusts were wide-ranging and reflected the measures that could achieve financial savings in the latter part of 2014-15. My Department monitored the achievement of the overall break-even position rather than tracking the achievement of each individual contingency plan proposal. It is important to emphasise that overall financial break-even was achieved in 2014-15, and the trusts' contingency proposals played a key role in delivering that outcome.”
“I am acutely aware that we set the Committee and Members of the Chamber a significant challenge and that Consideration Stage is evidence of the enormity of the task. We are almost at the end of a long journey, which will prove to be worthwhile. <BR /> <BR />Subject to the will of the Assembly today, I look forward to moving the Bill at Final Stage next week. Again, I thank the House for its support for today's amendments.”
“I thank all Members who contributed to the debate on the amendments. I will keep my remarks as brief as theirs. <BR /> <BR />The majority of the amendments are technical and consequential to the Committee amendments that were made at Consideration Stage. They have not, therefore, required a great deal of explanation on my behalf or debate by the House. I am pleased, however, that we were able to address the age threshold issue for lasting powers of attorney and that, between Consideration Stage and Further Consideration Stage, we were able to reflect on the work of the Department of Finance and Personnel and come back with a workable amendment. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Ad Hoc Committee, in particular, for its role in getting the Bill to this stage.”
“Many of these decisions are of a personal nature; for example, consenting to a divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership. The amendment ensures that judicial separation and separation orders are also included in the list of excluded decisions. <BR /> <BR />That concludes my remarks on this group of amendments, which, as I mentioned at the beginning, is largely consequential to and carry forward what was agreed by Members at Consideration Stage.”
“At present, a divorce, an annulment or the dissolution of a civil partnership is included in the list of terminating events. However, some people may object to a divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership on religious grounds. As an alternative, they can seek a judicial separation, or a separation order, which severs their personal ties with their spouse or partner but does not sever the marriage or partnership. Amendment Nos 6, 7 and 8 therefore provide for judicial separation or separation orders to be included in the list of terminating events in clause 107. Amendment Nos 15 and 16 carry the policy intention through to clause 285, which sets out a number of decisions that can never be made on behalf of someone who lacks capacity.”
“It will also offset any suggestion that an incapacitated 16- or 17-year-old has greater decision-making powers — for example, via an attorney — than they would have if they had retained capacity. <BR /> <BR />Finally, the remaining amendments relate to the issue of judicial separation — a matter falling within the remit of the Department of Finance and Personnel. Their effect is to ensure that, for the purposes of the Bill, judicial separation and separation orders are treated in the same way as a divorce, an annulment or the dissolution of a civil partnership. <BR /> <BR />Amendment Nos 6, 7 and 8 relate to clause 107. That clause details the events that can terminate the appointment of an attorney and result in a revocation of the lasting power of attorney instrument or power. These are called "terminating events".”
“However, crucially, they differ from the amendment tabled at Consideration Stage because they clearly state that, if the lasting power of attorney comes into play before the donor has reached the age of 18, the attorney will have no greater power to make decisions than the donor themselves would have had if they had retained their capacity. To put it another way: the attorney will step into the donor's shoes and will only have the powers that the donor themselves had at that particular point. That qualification is vital because it will help to avoid any confusion about what an attorney can or cannot do on behalf of a donor who is incapacitated between the ages of 16 and 18.”
“That age threshold was selected because it was recognised that there are some things that 16- and 17-year-olds cannot do. For example, they cannot make a will or vote. The law has, however, conferred certain rights and powers on 16- and 17-year-olds. For example, they can enter into certain contracts, receive certain benefits and earn their own wages. As I mentioned during Consideration Stage, colleagues in the Department of Finance and Personnel have been reflecting further on that, in consultation with my Department, and Minister Storey and I have now concluded that 16- and 17-year-olds should be able to make alternative decision-making arrangements for the matters that are currently within their control. Amendment Nos 4 and 5 therefore have the effect of reducing the age threshold for lasting powers of attorney from 18 to 16.”
“<BR /> <BR />Amendment No 21 to clause 307 relates to the proposed renaming of the Northern Ireland Departments under the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. The amendment accounts for the period of time between the passing of the Mental Capacity Bill and the coming into operation of section 1 of the Departments Act, which achieved Royal Assent on 29 February 2016. <BR /> <BR />I now propose to cover amendment Nos 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15 and 16 together as they relate to matters falling within the remit of the Department of Finance and Personnel. I will deal firstly with the amendments relating to the age threshold for lasting powers of attorney. <BR /> <BR />As Members are aware, the Bill currently provides that lasting powers of attorney can be made only by those aged 18 and over.”
“Other technical amendments include amendment Nos 11, 17 and 21. Amendment No 11 ensures that all persons detained under Part 10 of the Bill can be covered by regulations made by the Department of Justice under clause 263. <BR /> <BR />Amendment No 17 to clause 303 ensures that the power to make amendments to other statutory provisions, in consequence of the Bill, includes a power to make amendments to Acts passed in the same session but after this Bill. As Members will be aware, there are a number of Bills being debated at Further Consideration Stage today. If they are passed in the same Assembly session as this Bill, amendment No 17 allows my Department to amend them in consequence of the Mental Capacity Bill, if necessary.”
“The default position is that the term means any registered person; therefore this is in essence a technical amendment intended to assist the smooth operation of the Bill on the ground.”
“This term, which appears frequently in the Bill, is currently defined in clause 306 as a person registered under Part 3 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003. However, two persons are required to register under that part of the order: the person carrying on the establishment — that is, the business owner — or the person managing the establishment, who is usually an employee with responsibility for the day-to-day running of the establishment. The new power allows my Department to specify, where necessary, one, or both, of these persons for the purposes of a particular function or duty conferred on the managing authority by the Bill, depending on the nature of that function or duty.”
“However, the term "final disposals" is not defined in clause 156, nor is it defined in the Bill. Amendment No 10 therefore further amends clause 156 to introduce a power to define the term "final disposals" through secondary legislation. As a consequence, the Department of Justice will be able to work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and with stakeholders to create a definition of "final disposals" that will adequately capture the necessary information and be operationally viable. <BR /> <BR />That brings me to amendment Nos 19 and 20, which give my Department the power to make further provision in regulations relating to the meaning of the "managing authority" of an independent hospital or a care home.”
“<BR /> <BR />I now turn to the final amendment required as a consequence of the Committee's amendments at Consideration Stage. Amendment No 10 relates to clause 156, which provides that annual records must be kept by the police of the number of persons detained in hospital and the number of persons detained in police stations under Part 9 of the Bill. It also provides that this information must be included in the annual reports published by the police under section 58(1) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000. The amendments made to the clause at Consideration Stage created further duties for the Police Service of Northern Ireland to specifically publish statistics relating to children who are detained under Part 9 as well as a duty to publish information relating to the final disposals in respect of those children.”
“Amendment No 18 amends the definition of enduring power of attorney in clause 306, now that clause 110 and schedule 5 have been removed. It will now have the meaning given to it in the Enduring Powers of Attorney (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. Amendment Nos 9 and 22, as well as amendment Nos 13 and 14, also now reflect the removal of clause 110 and schedule 5 in clauses 117 and 276 and schedule 9. Amendment No 12 to clause 268 ensures that the offence of forgery, false statement etc no longer makes reference to an enduring power of attorney. As such, attorneys will continue to operate under the Enduring Powers of Attorney Order now that it is being retained. Finally, amendment No 23 to schedule 11 simply reverses the proposed repeal of that order.”
“The Committee raised concerns about this plan based on experiences in England and Wales with the early operation of the lasting power of attorney system there and, despite reassurances by Minister Ford on forms and costs, tabled amendments at Consideration Stage to retain the enduring power of attorney system alongside the new lasting power of attorney system. I do not plan to rehearse, or re-rehearse, the arguments on the issue today; they were all well aired previously in this Chamber and indeed in correspondence between my Department and the Committee. <BR /> <BR />The amendments made, however, have left some tidying up to be done to the rest of the Bill, and I will briefly run Members through them now.”