Covid-19: Over-60s

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

First, I want to say how we value the work that front-line workers do and how much of a debt we owe to them. The Government are not considering granting early access to the state pension; I am unable to say more than that.

[Baroness Gale (Lab) [V]]

Will the Minister agree with me that women over 60 who work in care homes have to make impossible decisions between a job and their health, and will she further agree with me that they have made great sacrifices over the last few months to protect the people they care for? Will she commit now to ensure all care homes are Covid-safe by improving the health and safety regime and ensuring that employers follow the guidance?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

I am pleased to be able to confirm to the noble Baroness and indeed to the whole House that, since late March, the Health and Safety Executive has had an extra £14 million in its budget. It has carried out a programme of interventions to check how businesses are implementing measures to reduce the transmission of Covid. Concerns are acted on quickly, and the HSE decides on what kind of enforcement there has to be.

Pensions

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Wednesday 13th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, for bringing this important debate before us tonight. The whole debate is not around whether there should be an increase in the state pension age but about how much notice people are given for such changes. There are many women who, throughout their working life, expected to receive their state pension at the age of 60 and were shocked, when they approached that age, to find out that the rules had changed.

It seems that the Department for Work and Pensions wrote to the women affected by this but did not contact them until 2005—10 years after the 1995 changes. Many women said that they did not receive such a letter. With such a big change to the state pension age, it is so important that people are given enough notice of any changes so that they can properly plan and save for their retirement. The Department for Work and Pensions needs to do much more to ensure that people affected are contacted about such changes to state pension age as early as possible.

I, too, will quote the former Pensions Minister Steve Webb. When he spoke about this, he said:

“The 2011 Act, which I was responsible for, did not add any more than 18 months to people’s pension age, typically 12 months. But when we did write to people—and we did write … to tell them what changes we have made—this was the first time they had heard about the first changes. So instead of me writing to them to tell them there was an extra year on the pension age, we were effectively telling them they had six extra years added to their pension age, which is of course why they were outraged”.


There is a dispute about how many women were born in the 1950s, but it is estimated that there were at least 2.5 million. These women have paid into the system in the expectation that they would retire with a full state pension at the age of 60. Many were—and still are— completely unaware of any changes to this, despite the various Acts of Parliament over the years, owing to the lack of correspondence by the Government of the day. Without time to prepare and make the necessary alternative arrangements, many women born in the 1950s have been left in financial despair. They need reasonable transitional arrangements in place as soon as possible, to allow them to enjoy the retirement they have earned.

My honourable friend Carolyn Harris, MP for Swansea East, spoke in another place on 29 November and gave a very good example. She said:

“Many women born in the 1950s have already celebrated their 60th birthday, whilst the remainder approach theirs over the next few years. But plans of retirement are on hold for these women as they face an uncertain future. The lucky ones are having to work for longer in jobs that they are still able to hold onto. But for others, the physical nature of their jobs is totally impractical for women of their age. I have heard first-hand accounts: of women suffering from trying to keep working in jobs they are no longer able to do; of women having to sign on as unemployed for their first time in their lives, because they are unable to find jobs or are no longer able to work in the jobs they had; of women going without essentials like food and heating as they just can’t afford them without the pension they had expected; of women selling their homes or borrowing from their elderly parents or children just to make ends meet and avoid spiralling into debt”.


That spells out clearly what is happening to the 1950s women. How are they going to continue to work in jobs which they are not physically fit to do? It is highly unlikely that employers will keep them there if they cannot do their job. These women accept that the pension age is increasing, but they have not been given appropriate time to prepare for that. The Government’s poor handling of the changes has left many in financial hardship.

These women had planned their future. They had worked hard and they naturally expected to be rewarded with a full pension, but now they face a different predicament. I ask the Minister to listen to the women who have been campaigning hard on this matter. Will she meet them in order to understand their concerns? I am not sure whether any Minister has met any of the campaigning groups. Will the Minister give a commitment tonight to meet them in order to understand their problems and, I hope, to find a resolution to this very serious matter?

Welfare Reform and Work Bill

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords, as I am the last Back-Bencher to speak in this debate, I believe that everything that has to be said about this Bill has already been said, but I will speak briefly on Clause 13. It will cut the support paid to people who cannot currently work owing to sickness or disability by about 30%. That means that this group of sick and disabled people will get the same financial support as those on jobseeker’s allowance who are fit and well enough to work. The rationale given for the cut is that this extra money for people in the ESA WRAG acts as what the Chancellor calls a “perverse incentive” which stops sick and disabled people getting better and working. The noble Baroness, Lady Browning, put it very clearly when she described this move as disgusting. I agree with her on that. The Government’s policy intention is to get more people from the work-related activity group back into work. Where is the evidence for the Government’s claims that the cut will get people into jobs who are currently unfit to work owing to sickness or disability?

Reducing financial support for sick and disabled people cannot improve a medical prognosis or speed a recovery. There are also fears about not being able to afford to attend all medical appointments and having to stop therapeutic classes that maximise physical movement and social confidence. It is clear that cutting support by one-third to half a million sick and disabled people is likely to put extra pressure on accident and emergency services and the health service generally.

This is not mentioned at all in the Government’s impact assessment, and the glaring omission casts doubt on the Government’s claim that this policy will save around £640 million a year by 2020-21. Sick and disabled people do not give up work lightly in order to claim benefits. It is not a lifestyle choice. A study found that people with Parkinson’s worked for an average of 3.4 to 4.9 years after being diagnosed. People report regularly that they want to work for as long as they are able. Many people with Parkinson’s work and, with the correct drugs regime and the help and support of their workplace, will be able to continue to work for some time. Eventually, as it is a progressive illness, they will have to give up work. They work as long as they can because of the uncertain future they face, which for many will mean expensive care and support.

There should be no doubt about the motivation of sick and disabled people wanting to work—most people want to work—but they face many significant barriers, including their health and workplace obstacles such as employer attitudes and inappropriate job design. The test does not capture the reality of living with a fluctuating condition, leaving people at risk of being assessed on a “good day”. People with Parkinson’s can have a good day and perhaps the next day cannot do anything. Tests such as the ability to lift a pen and place it in a pocket do not say anything of someone’s ability to have a job and carry out the work. The impact of pain and fatigue is not considered and neither is the fact that some people will not recover because they have incurable and degenerative conditions.

If someone has had to give up work because of the progression of their condition and their prognosis is further deterioration, this will inevitably impact their chances of securing employment again. As a result of the many failings of the WCA, employment and support allowance claimants with Parkinson’s are placed in the impossible and demoralising position of being told they are either fit for work or should be getting themselves back into work, and are often placed in the work-related activity group rather than the much more appropriate support group.

Many people struggle to survive on the WRAG payment, as they are already trying to improve or maintain their health. The Government would be taking £30 a week from almost half a million people on employment support allowance in the work-related activity group. Ministers argue that if these people worked between four and five hours a week on the new minimum wage they could recoup this loss. I wonder where these jobs offering four to five hours a week are. Can the Minister say how many thousands of jobs there are that people could work in for those few hours to recoup the money the Government are going to cut from their benefits?

How is making people poorer an incentive to work, especially people with progressive illnesses such as Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis? In its excellent briefing, Scope says that it,

“opposes the proposed reduction in support provided to disabled people through the Employment and Support Allowance Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) set out in Clause 13. Disabled people placed in ESA WRAG have been found ‘unfit for work’ by the independent Work Capability Assessment (WCA). The proposed change will not incentivise disabled people to find work”.

I agree with Scope and look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.

Children: Child Protection

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to ensure that children are protected against physical and sexual abuse.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, child protection is an absolute priority for this Government, as indeed it is for all Governments. It is also a priority for the police and local authorities, who have a statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. Following the Munro review of child protection, we are supporting local agencies to free professionals from central prescription, focus on early help, develop social work expertise, strengthen accountabilities and promote learning. The Government’s child exploitation action plan also outlines a range of measures to tackle this particularly pernicious form of child abuse.

[Baroness Gale]

I thank the Minister for her reply. Does she agree that children who are subjected to sexual abuse and have the courage to report that abuse must always be believed and should be treated as victims? Will she further agree—perhaps she could ask the Government this—that when the nine inquiries into child abuse are completed, the Government need to have an overarching review of lessons learnt from those inquiries so that all our children will know that they have someone to go to, that they can report abuse and that they will be believed? The level of child abuse in our country at present, and in the past, is a national disgrace.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness that all victims must be treated with respect and that their allegations must be taken seriously. The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have been very clear in another place and at all opportunities when speaking recently about this issue, that anyone who is or has been a victim of abuse or has relevant information about any abuse must go to the police. As for a full review after the various investigations and inquiries are completed, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister has not ruled that out. However, we wish to wait for the outcome of the various reviews before deciding what further steps to take in light of that.

Welfare Reform Bill

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale]

My Lords, I will be focusing my speech on the impact that the provisions of the Bill will have on people with Parkinson's and their carers. I declare an interest as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Parkinson’s Disease. My concerns are that the Government’s reforms could mean that people of working age with Parkinson's will miss out on the financial support on which they now rely. Nearly 10,000 people of working age with Parkinson’s receive disability living allowance and a Parkinson’s UK survey of 2010 found that the DLA was used by people with Parkinson’s for absolute essentials. For example, it pays for the extra cost of electricity for heating the home, for support and help in the home and for transport costs. They describe it as a lifeline.

The Government propose to replace the DLA with a new benefit for those of working age, the personal independence payment. The focus of PIP will be on those with greatest need. That includes moving from the existing three DLA care rates to only two and it is possible to surmise that people with Parkinson’s on the lower DLA rate are more likely to lose out completely. Will the Minister give an assurance that no one with Parkinson’s who currently receives the DLA will lose their benefit and that the important benefits to which the DLA is linked, such as the blue badge or the mobility scheme, will now be linked to the PIP?

This is not the only way in which the reforms will impact on those with Parkinson’s. By wanting to reassess everyone of working age who receives the DLA and then reassess people routinely, rather than make indefinite or long-term awards, the Bill clearly fails to recognise the nature of a progressive, fluctuating condition such as Parkinson’s. Most people with Parkinson's are already on indefinite awards of the DLA and that is in recognition that their symptoms will not improve. To put them through a face-to-face reassessment and periodic reviews will cause anxiety and distress. As someone with Parkinson’s put it, “This is a recipe for continual harassment”. Will the Minister assure your Lordships' House that people with Parkinson’s will not be put through the anxiety of face-to-face reassessments if sufficient written evidence already exists and that, once in receipt of PIP, anyone with Parkinson’s already receiving the highest rate of PIP should not be subject to periodic retesting? Face-to-face reassessments are notoriously inaccurate for people with fluctuating conditions. People report that the assessor sees them on a good day and assumes that that is how they are all the time. Under the new proposals, assessors will not take into account life-limiting symptoms of Parkinson's, such as problems with getting out of bed, moving around indoors, the risk of falls, and night-time care.

There is much concern about the need to report changes in circumstances for a fluctuating condition such as Parkinson's. People are extremely worried about these proposals. Recently, one man wrote:

“Don't let the government take DLA away; it’s too good a benefit to lose, and a lifeline for disabled people. DLA can continue to be improved, and refined to meet any requirement. Just don't let them take it away, or abolish it, just because they couldn’t save enough money by keeping it”.

He ended by signing his name and underneath wrote:

“Severely disabled for 20 years and terrified”.

During the Summer Recess, I had the privilege of shadowing a Parkinson’s nurse in Bridgend for a day. She really impressed me. She was so dedicated and it was easy to see that she loved the work she does. I asked her whether patients had said anything about the Welfare Reform Bill and the DLA. Her answer was that they are petrified. A briefing I received recently—like other noble Lords I have received many briefings on this Bill—ended by saying:

“The situation for the sick and disabled in this country is pretty dire”.

People with Parkinson's are incensed about how people receiving benefits, such as the DLA, are being portrayed in the media, yet are fearful of being reported as frauds just because they have had a good day. One man said:

“I am sick to death of the Government, certain UK newspapers, et al ‘informing’ the nation that ‘there are so many lazy people who are not ill’. I have been called a ‘fraud’ just because I have had a good day. Anyone who is jealous of me, or thinks I am lazy, can have my DLA, as long as they take the Parkinson’s with it. I have worked all my life. I have paid into the system for an insurance I hoped I would never need—but unfortunately I do. I wish perhaps that people would just think about that”.

I hope that the Minister will think about that tonight.

What sort of coalition Government is this that people in this country are petrified and terrified of these proposals? I have never heard anyone speak this way about any government proposals or about any Government. People might be unhappy or they might not like something but on this people are saying that they are petrified and terrified. Something must be wrong for people to feel this way. I hope that the Minister will reflect on what people with disabilities such as Parkinson’s are saying as it is a progressive illness for which there is no known cure. People do not recover from Parkinson’s.

As their illness progresses, people with Parkinson’s generally have carers. Often it is a family member or friend. Informal carers stand to face a double whammy under this Bill as a carer's allowance is dependent on the person with Parkinson’s being eligible for the higher or middle rate of the DLA. The Government have done little to make the situation any clearer for carers about which rate of PIP might be linked to the carer’s allowance. Can the Minister give an assurance to carers that both new rates of daily living PIP will lead to eligibility for carer’s allowance so that no carer will lose out in the change from the DLA to the PIP? Please give them some hope so that they can continue with their caring responsibilities without all these unnecessary worries.

Women: Assistance in Pregnancy

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Tuesday 8th March 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Gale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to assist pregnant women who no longer qualify for a maternity grant and a health in pregnancy grant.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud)]

My Lords, addressing the deficit presents difficult choices. We are focusing resources on those in greatest need. Pregnant women on low incomes will benefit from the increases to the child element of child tax credit above indexation by £180 in 2011-12 and £110 in 2012-13. All eligible women will still receive Healthy Start vouchers and will still qualify for a £500 maternity grant for their first child. We are also extending budgeting loans to include maternity needs.

[Baroness Gale]

I thank the Minister for his reply. What help will be given to women having a second child given that the grant will end in April and the new Social Fund amendments to allow them to claim for maternity items will not come into force until eight to 12 months’ time, so there will be a gap? What are those women supposed to do? The link has now been broken with the health in pregnancy grant, which ended in January, under which midwives and doctors gave advice to pregnant women on healthy pregnancy. How will the Minister ensure that those mothers receive good advice to make sure that they have a healthy pregnancy?

[Lord Freud]

There are two areas of financial help. The first is the budgeting loans. As I said yesterday, we are encouraging people to look at budgeting loans in the widest possible way. The second area is community care grants. Again, we expect that many people in the most difficult circumstances will be able to take advantage of those. The noble Baroness’s second question concerned what we were doing to help pregnant women. The Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families are developing a project, Preparing for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond, which is looking at a renewed model of universal antenatal education and preparation for parenthood.

Social Fund Maternity Grant Amendment Regulations 2011

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Monday 7th March 2011 Lords Chamber

There are all kinds of complications which do not seem to have been considered—for example, a family unit where the woman is expecting their first child but there is a child already from the man’s previous relationship. Such detail should have been considered. The measure has simply not been thought through and it works against the commitment to early intervention to support families and children by the Government. I support the Motion of Regret and I beg the Government to think again.

[Baroness Gale]

My Lords, I support the Motion of Regret of my noble friend Lord Touhig.

That word “regret” is important. The Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee, in its devastating report of 3 February, made a number of points relating to the withdrawal of the Sure Start maternity grant for most pregnant mothers. One of the points it made is that the Office for National Statistics survey found that,

“less than 10 per cent of second and subsequent children were born more than five years after the first or subsequent child”.

The effect of this means realistically that the grant is now paid only for the first child because, if there are children in the family under 16, in no circumstances will the maternity grant be paid.

The Merits Committee also suggests that,

“The House may wish to seek clarification of why age 16 was chosen as the threshold as opposed to say age 5 or 10”.

I therefore ask the Minister why the age of 16 was chosen. It is highly unlikely, for example, that if there is a 15 year-old child in the household—or even a 10 year-old—any equipment from that child could be used for the new baby. The expenditure would be very like having a first child, but with no help whatever from this Government.

The charity Gingerbread, commenting on the emergency Budget of June 2010, said:

“A family having a second child could be over £1,200 worse off this year than last year. These cuts will be deepest for the most vulnerable families”.

The charity Family Action said,

“low income families will find it tough to meet the needs of their newborn children and families returning to work will be stung by cuts to tax credits and childcare costs. We know from talking to the new parents who access our services how vital these funds are in giving families and their children the best possible start in life. Now they’ll be on the back foot from birth, thanks to the Government’s policies”.

In his statement on the Social Fund Maternity Grant Amendment Regulations 2011—published in the Act paper—the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions says:

“Around 150,000 families in receipt of a qualifying benefit at the point they have a second or subsequent child will be affected by this measure. In order to help mitigate the effects for some of these families, the forthcoming Welfare Reform Bill will include a measure to open up the Social Fund budgeting loan scheme to enable loans for maternity items to be made available. However, due to the discrepancy in timing between the introduction of the changes to eligibility to Sure Start Maternity Grants in April 2011 and the date the provision in the Bill comes into force (expected to be early 2012), families will not be able to take advantage of the extended access to Budgeting Loans during this period”.

The Government saying that “families will not be able to take advantage” must be the understatement of the year.

This is the coalition Government’s timetable; they are in charge of it. They could do something about it but they have chosen not to. This means that there will be no government help available for women who are expecting babies between 11 April 2011 and some unknown date in 2012. What are these mothers expected to do? Do they go without? Do they go to a charity or to their church to see whether they can get some help? Perhaps they may be able to get a loan from a bank. If not, perhaps, as my noble friend Lord Touhig said, they may be able to take out a loan with some organisation where a very high interest rate will be charged. What a worry for a pregnant mother.

Of course, depending on the age of the first child, there may be some items that can be used, but there are always additional costs for every child and this can be a strain on a family budget. However, as things stand now, there is no chance of help from this Government. I ask the Minister to listen to the charities which have expertise in these matters and to reconsider what help can be given from April to the date when the Welfare Reform Bill will be enacted.

We know this legislation has been rushed through, allowing only nine days for consultation by the Social Security Advisory Committee, and without proper consultation and scrutiny it is lacking in evidence. I am not aware of any impact assessment and I wonder why there has not been one. I ask the Minister to take careful note of what has been said and the effect that this proposal will have on the families that once qualified for such support under a Labour Government but will no longer receive such support.

[Lord German]

My Lords, I should like to take a rounded view of these regulations and put them in the context of the activity of the Government in terms of poverty. There are some issues which noble Lords on the Benches opposite have raised which require some answers from the Minister and I shall raise one or two myself.

First, it is important to recognise that these regulations have the effect of providing a level of savings within the DWP budget—that is undeniable—and that these types of decisions are never easy. At face value, of course, this could be simply seen as yet another cost-saving exercise, which is the thrust of the previous three speeches. However, it should also be looked at in the broader context. I shall examine both sides of the issue in my contribution to the debate.

I preface my remarks by posing a question to the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, the mover of this Motion of regret. I shall not correct him on his Welsh mutations; I shall explain to him afterwards—

Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970: 40th Anniversary

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Corbett for securing this important debate today and for his wonderful opening speech. I congratulate my noble friend Lord Morris of Manchester; it was a privilege to listen to his great speech and I thank him for it. I also thank him for his dedication to the promotion of rights for disabled people throughout his parliamentary career. It is thanks to his pioneering work that those with long-term illnesses have entitlements such as assistance in their own home, equal access to public facilities and even parking permits. The 1970 Act was groundbreaking and changed people’s lives. It placed new obligations on local authorities and helped to transform the way in which the state and society treated some of their most vulnerable people.

I declare an interest as chair of the All-Party Group on Parkinson’s Disease and as a member of the charity Parkinson’s UK. One in eight people in the United Kingdom is affected by Parkinson’s, which is a complex, long-term, degenerative condition and for which there is no known cure. Those affected rely on high-quality health and social care, as well as the right to financial support. With the right care their symptoms can be better managed, their quality of life improved and they can be supported to make an economic contribution to society.

As this is Carers Week, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the 6 million people who perform the vital task of caring for others. Part of the legacy of my noble friend Lord Morris is recognition of the invaluable role of carers, but now more needs to be done. The All-Party Group on Parkinson’s carried out an inquiry, which I chaired, into access to health and social care services for people with Parkinson’s and their carers. Its findings were published last year and I would like to inform your Lordships’ House of what we found in regard to the role of carers. The report stated:

“Many carers said they were not getting the respite care they needed due to funding restrictions in many areas”.

Denise Maule, a carer providing round-the-clock care for her husband who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia, described in oral evidence to the inquiry how she had eventually managed to access a short period of respite care support after reaching breaking point. However, soon after this period of respite, she was informed by social services that she was no longer eligible despite her need being ongoing. Another carer said:

“It is difficult to put into words the feeling of abandonment and loneliness I feel. Carers have enough to cope with without the constant battle to get some attention for their loved ones”.

Research by Parkinson’s UK has shown that more than half of carers had been caring for five years or more. This is not surprising given that Parkinson’s is a long-term condition. More than half of carers reported that their health had got worse as a result of caring. More than a quarter of carers were worse off financially since becoming a carer. Just under half of carers were not receiving any form of break from their caring responsibilities; even fewer—16 per cent—had any emergency back-up. Seven out of 10 carers were not aware that they were entitled to an assessment of their needs. The lives of carers are therefore one of dedication and love for those for whom they care. They need help and support, and especially respite care.

As the first Minister for Disabled People in 1974, my noble friend Lord Morris of Manchester introduced benefits for disabled people and their carers. I am concerned that the coalition Government plan to retest all those who are on incapacity benefits and that their proposals to change the benefit system may leave people with Parkinson’s and other conditions without the financial support that they need.

Research has shown that many people with Parkinson’s rely on benefits for all or part of their income. Nearly half of people with Parkinson’s of working age are in receipt of incapacity benefit, including 47 per cent of those under the age of 45. Without the right financial support, people with conditions such as Parkinson’s will be unable to live independent lives, which was one of the key aims of the 1970 Act.

Under the heading, “Jobs and Welfare”, page 23 of The Coalition: Our Programme for Government states:

“We will re-assess all current claimants of Incapacity Benefit for their readiness to work”

This could result in people with Parkinson’s and other long-term conditions being wrongly reclassified as capable of work. A lot of these people do work. With the right drugs regime, they can work. However, there are others for whom it would be extremely difficult, and they are very concerned about that.

The assessment for the employment and support allowance introduced in 2008—I know that it was under a Labour Government—has been widely criticised as unfair and inaccurate, especially in terms of fluctuating conditions such as Parkinson’s. The coalition Government have said that they will retest everyone on incapacity benefit immediately and either move them on to ESA and keep testing them yearly or, if the test shows that they can work, move them on to jobseeker’s allowance and programmes to get them into work. I am sure that many—those who may be capable of doing some sort of job—would welcome that, but those jobs have to be available for them. However, if assessments are inappropriate, if assessors are not properly trained and if medical records are not taken into account, those with fluctuating conditions may be wrongly deemed ready for work. People may then be denied the benefits that they rely upon. Many of these issues have already been highlighted by a Parkinson’s UK report, Of Little Benefit and Not Working, which raised serious concerns about the accuracy and fairness of employment and support allowance testing.

However, a great deal has been achieved in the past 40 years. The lives of disabled people and those with long-term conditions have been improved. The Act has ensured that public authorities take responsibility for their well-being, and there has been an increase in equality of access to services. Perhaps above all, we have sought to tackle the stigma attached to those in need of care and support. I hope that the Minister will take note of the great concerns of many people on this matter.