Speeches by Leadbeater.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. At the risk of repeating what has already been said before by various members of the Committee, amendments 455 and 456 are important amendments that further strengthen the oversight, transparency and implementation of the Bill, particularly in relation to prote…”

“I will double-check, but I am pretty confident that those reporting mechanisms are covered elsewhere in the Bill. I am very happy to confirm, but I think they are covered in clauses 7 and 8.”

“The hon. Lady said that she is not questioning the ethical judgment and practice of doctors, but the comments she is making suggest otherwise.”

“Clause 40(4) is very clear that medical practitioners can receive only “reasonable remuneration” for the provision of services, so it is clear that they cannot make money from the provision of assisted dying. Is the hon. Lady saying that where there is a private provider or one commissioned by the NHS—the model that I …”

“I would argue that it does.”

“If the hon. Lady is saying that she would not want to see assisted dying services within the NHS, then where does she think they would sit? Would she support my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley’s suggestion that this should be done by the voluntary sector and charities, or would she suggest the private sector?”

“There is a clause that I have laid before the hon. Lady—that is what we are discussing. I will come on to that in my comments. Since she is clear that she does not think this sits within the NHS, she must have given consideration to where she thinks it should sit, if it were to come into effect.”

“I thank the right hon. Lady for her constructive and collegiate approach to the Committee, particularly on devolution. I have contacted the Welsh Government and am keen to speak to them when Committee proceedings have finished. They have said that they are happy to do that. I am keen to continue to work with the right …”

“As my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central said, it is common practice in healthcare and in the NHS for services to be commissioned in a range of ways. We would not put such a level of detail in the Bill, but it would be normal practice for the Secretary of State to do that commissioning work. My hon. Friend t…”

“My hon. Friend has mentioned a couple of companies. I have to say that I do not know very much about those companies. Are they healthcare providers? Do they deliver healthcare?”

“The Minister is absolutely right. The point is that new clause 36 provides that provision for assisted dying services can be made through the NHS. It gives flexibility: if the NHS Act needed to be amended, it could be, but that is certainly not the intention at this stage. The Act has been amended on numerous occasions…”

“We have had some excellent and extremely thorough debates covering all aspects of the Bill since the Committee first met. There has been an unprecedented level of scrutiny, and rightly so, given the gravity of the issue. The clause before us is one of the most important that we will consider. Without it, the Bill’s obj…”

“The approach to reasonable remuneration would be the same as in any other service commissioned by the NHS. There are tariffs for services that doctors provide. That is not for us in Parliament to decide; it would be up to the NHS and the commissioning bodies. I understand that some people might be uncomfortable with pr…”

“I beg to move amendment 539, in clause 33, page 19, line 34, leave out subsections (1) and (2) and insert— “(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision requiring a registered medical practitioner to notify the Commissioner of the occurrence of an event of a specified description.” This amendment replac…”

“The purpose of these amendments is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the notification process within the context of the Bill and to ensure that the commissioner, who plays a key role in monitoring and reporting, receives the necessary information to fulfil their duties effectively. The amendments will empo…”

“I hope that my hon. Friend can take some reassurance from amendment 455, which says that “the Commissioner must consult… the Chief Medical Officer for England” and “the Chief Medical Officer for Wales” when making a report.”

“I beg to move amendment 382, in clause 34, page 20, line 26, leave out “relevant Chief Medical Officer” and insert “Commissioner”. This amendment provides for monitoring, investigation and reporting functions under Clause 34 to be carried out by the Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner (instead of the Chief Medical Of…”

“That would be my understanding as well, but I am not a lawyer. Fortunately, a lawyer just tried to intervene on me, so he might want to step in.”

“It is not sudden!”

“Thank you for stepping into the breach this morning, Ms McVey. Clause 23 provides that there will be no obligation on medical practitioners and health professionals to provide assistance as set out in the assisted dying process. We know doctors and other health professionals hold a variety of views on assisted dying. A…”