The House of Lords has today voted against blocking the Health and Social Care Bill completely. It has also voted against a proposal for the Bill to be delayed further by sending it to a special committee for further scrutiny.
This means that the Bill will now progress to the next usual committee stage in the House of Lords. Whilst further amendments may still be made to the Bill as it progresses through the House of Lords today's vote was critical to the success of the Bill and can be seen as another step towards the Bill becoming legislation.