Image source, HoL

Lord Patel, former chair of the NHS Sustainability Committee, asks the government if it is time to make National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines mandatory.

Lord O'Shaughnessy says clinical autonomy is important, but the government can work on making understanding of the NICE guidelines mandatory.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative John Redwood says that through this debate on Henry VIII powers, "we are demonstrating Parliament is indeed taking back control".

He argues that statutory instruments arising from the bill are technical in nature and MPs already have the means to "guarantee ministers proceed in that way".

He adds that the delegated powers created are "well-meant" and intended to "stop Parliament clogging up with minor drafting changes".

House of Lords
Parliament

After the introduction of the new peer, Lord Houghton of Richmond, former Chief of the Defence Staff, who will sit as a crossbencher, questions are under way.

The first question today comes from Conservative Lord Black of Brentwood on diagnoses of atrial fibrillation.

He wants to know how many people with that diagnosis who were admitted to hospital with a stroke in 2016-17 were not on an appropriate anticoagulation therapy before being admitted.

Lord O'Shaughnessy, the health minister, says that audit data shows that half of patients who have had a stroke have not had anticoagulation medication.

House of Commons
Parliament

The main amendments being moved by Labour are:

New clause 63 - sets up a new authority to enforce environmental standards and protections before exit day

New clause 1 - sets up a Commons triage committee to work alongside the Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee to determine the level of scrutiny each statutory instrument should receive

Amendment 32 - removes the proposed capacity of ministers to modify and amend the act itself via delegated powers

Amendment 25 - prevents the government using delegated powers under Clause 7 to reduce rights or protections.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow Brexit minister Matthew Pennycook describes the delegated powers created in the bill as "extraordinary in constitutional potency and scope" and, in Labour's view, "objectionable".

He says he accepts delegated powers are needed, but they should "not be granted casually" and should be "limited wherever possible".

He goes on to say the powers are "the most expansive type", and can be used to establish any provision that could be made by an act of Parliament or to introduce new Henry VIII powers.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Sir Oliver Letwin puts forward the view that the sifting committee advocated by the Procedure Committee is the "right way" to deal with delegated powers.

"This is a genuine lock," he argues, whereas Labour is engaging in "party games".

He says he's "very confident" ministers will respect the constraints provided on the powers given to them by the bill.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Procedure Committee has come forward with proposals for a "sifting" committee, which would sort through delegated powers in the bill and determine which require further scrutiny.

Labour's Chris Leslie and Chris Bryant express fears about its composition.

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There are several stages of a bill - first reading (that's when it's published), second reading (MPs debate the general principles of a bill), committee stage, report stage and third reading.

Each one has a purpose. The committee stage is a chance for MPs to examine the bill line by line.

Committee stage often happens away from the television cameras in a Public Bill Committee.

Really important bills (like this one) are examined in the Commons chamber, in what's called a committee of the whole House.

Read more.

House of Commons
Parliament

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MPs are now getting started on the sixth day of committee stage scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill, external, which writes EU law into UK law after Brexit.

Committee stage is a chance for MPs to examine the bill in detail, line by line.

Labour's Chris Leslie is introducing an amendment which would require the government to commission an independent report into the constitutional implications of the powers delegated to ministers to make regulations.

These are known as Henry VIII powers, and they are controversial because they allow ministers to pass new laws without going through the same process as primary legislation.

"It's time to be honest about the extensive and wide-ranging powers that the government wants to take away from Parliament," Mr Leslie says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts is bringing in a bill which aims to stop abusers making claims to the Civil and Family Court, simply to further harass their victims.

The cases mainly involve the victims of domestic abuse, harassment and stalking.

She is also calling for restraining orders and sanctions for breaching them to be strengthened.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP and nurse Maria Caulfield says there's an issue with NHS managers in that there are "too many of them", they "lack clinical skills" and "make bizarre decisions".

She highlights the amount spent by Lord Kerslake spent on interim managers, calling it "a scandalous waste of taxpayers' money".

The minister observes "there is a need for interim managers from time to time" but that has "now been capped".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Harriet Harman argues that "problems caused by lack of money are not going to be solved by blaming the leadership"; and she protests against further cuts.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth backs her up, calling King's College "the canary down the coal mine" when it comes to hospital resources.

Health Minister Philip Dunne insists: "This isn't just about money - it's about the way the trust was managed.

"Problems were not addressed as they should have been."

He says under Labour the finances of the NHS would be "far worse".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Harriet Harman is asking an urgent question on the resignation of Lord Kerslake from King's College Hospital Foundation Trust.

Crossbencher and former civil service chief Lord Kerslake resigned two days ago, criticising the "unrealistic" approach to NHS finances.

NHS Improvement then announced that King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been placed in special measures because of funding problems.

The regulator said a deficit of £92m was now forecast this year - more than twice the original £38m planned for.

Health Minister Philip Dunne says Lord Kerslake "served with great commitment" and the trust faces "very real financial challenges".

It will receive "substantial financial support from the Department of Health" and it's right that those leading the hospital should "take responsibility", he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour's Stephen Timms cites TUC figures suggesting 3.2 million people are now in insecure work, asking what steps will be taken following the Taylor review of modern working practices.

Conservative Theresa Villiers highlights Uber, which she says relies on insecure work.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey raises the case of Amazon drivers, some of whom she describes as facing "Dickensian" conditions.

Business Minister Margot James promises "we will take action where it's needed" and acknowledges "there is an issue with insecure work and too much risk being transferred to employees".

"Where employers indulge in the sort of practices outlined... they should be roundly condemned."

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

The government has conceded that the current system for EU citizens applying for permanent residency is "not fit for the situation".

There has been widespread criticism of the application system which consists of 85 pages.

Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis said the system was "overly complicated and overly bureaucratic".

He said it was not suited to the scale of EU citizens now expected to apply for residency.

Mr Lewis was urged by a committee of peers, external to express "regret" for the uncertainty and distress caused to EU citizens by the current system but declined to do so.

Mr Lewis said it would be replaced by "a really simple system" under which EU citizens could apply for settled status online.

Mr Lewis said it would only take "a few minutes online" and applications would be processed within "a couple of weeks".

The new settled status applications would go live from the second half of next year.

He said it was expected to cost about the same as applying for a passport, which costs £72.50.

Mr Lewis said the government was consideirng making the process free for those eu citizens who had already acquired permanent residency.

House of Commons
Parliament

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The first question is from Labour's Hugh Gaffney on the effect of the privatisation of Royal Mail on employment standards in the postal industry.

He says Royal Mail workers are facing "worse pay and conditions and the threat of more job losses".

He asks if the government will nationalise it.

Business Minister Margot James responds that "almost all" 142,000 staff are on permanent contracts and above the living wage, and nationalisation is "not the answer".

House of Commons
Parliament

We start off with questions on business, energy and industrial strategy, before an urgent question on the resignation of Lord Kerslake from Kings College Trust.

There's a ten minute rule motion on the abuse of process in the courts, before MPs embark on their sixth day of committee stage scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill, which writes EU law into UK law after Brexit.

The adjournment debate is on children and young people's mental health provision.