Speeches by Carling.

“Yes. Ms Richards, do you think the Government are taking prevention of future death reports seriously enough at the moment? Is there an effective process in place, for the Government at least to be reviewing them properly?”

“Thank you; that is really helpful. Is it similar for the Government Departments culture side of things?”

“I appreciate that you may need to be in post a bit to think about this one, but do you have any initial thoughts on whether the role of the commissioner is set up right for it to be able to make an impact, or are there any changes that you think should be made to the set-up or the powers?”

“You have indicated that you may need to deepen your understanding of working within a regulatory system as the regulator. You have also commented on expanding your knowledge of the culture of Government Departments. Can you give us a sense of how you might go about doing that?”

“It was just the same point about how you will get to know the culture of Departments.”

“Is there anything else apart from that, or is that the key lynchpin?”

“I just wanted to ask a little more about the prevention of future death reports, following my colleague’s questions there. Do you have any comments on whether they are given the attention they need and deserve from Government? Are you including them in your categorisation of non-statutory inquiries?”

“What routes do inquiry chairs and panel members have available to them at the moment if they have significant concerns about some aspect of the Government’s response to an inquiry?”

“That is really helpful. Just to give a little context—I do not expect you to comment on this detail—the concern I have in this area arises from a number of reports we have had over the years about ritual male circumcision outside medical settings, because there is no requirement at the moment for people doing that to b…”

“Do you think they get the attention they need from Government at the moment?”

“We saw an example of that earlier this year, when two panel members from the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse wrote to the Home Secretary as private individuals. They expressed serious concerns about the response to a recommendation on the mandatory reporting of abuse. They said that the proposed duty had be…”

“The Secretary of State knows that I have concerns about the enforceability of a platform-based ban, but I welcome the news about tackling infinite scrolling, which affects people of all ages. I am concerned about young LGBT people growing up in often unsupportive environments, who can find support online from others in…”

“This is a process point, but will the Minister confirm to the House whether, if the revival motion fails, the promoters can bring in another Bill at a time that suits them, ideally with some of these issues resolved?”

“That is helpful, but most of what we have been talking about today has been discretionary. You have still not done it.”

“With respect, that does not answer my question. In this case, there were ongoing concerns and the case was closed. Mr Holdsworth, you recently made comments around how the decisions of the police and others supersede yours as the regulator in relation to how serious someone’s conduct is. Yet we still have not heard whe…”

“Your regulatory powers seem to be that you can disqualify individuals from acting as charity trustees and you can direct the winding up of a charity. Can you talk us through the circumstances that might lead to those actions being taken?”

“I accept that the commission has been advocating for changes to policy on a number of areas on this. I take a lot of interest in this policy area, so I know that the commission has been working on it. I also think the commission has not been anywhere near proactive enough in relation to certain powers that you have, as…”

“I do not think I can get any further with this line of questioning, Chair.”

“We will soon find out. Thank you.”

“This question is primarily to Ms Hilsenrath. The PHSO has informed the Committee that the decision was taken to lay the special reports under consideration due to, first, the likelihood of similar issues coming up again and, secondly, the fact that the PHSO saw the Charity Commission’s understanding of the way the PHSO…”