Care Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Hollins and Baroness Meacher

Monday 14th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Meacher]

My Lords, I support Amendments 77, 80 and 82, to which I have added my name. I will also comment on Amendment 79.

I strongly support the need for adult safeguarding access orders and applaud the noble Baroness, Lady Greengross, for tabling the relevant amendments. As we discussed last week, as local authority resources shrink further—the Minister referred to a 5% reduction so far—the reality is that care will be left more and more in the hands of relatives, many of whom may themselves be elderly and frail; or indeed they may be younger, with childcare responsibilities and have great difficulty in providing support in all directions. Inevitably, many family carers will find it extremely hard to cope, and there will undoubtedly be situations when elderly or disabled people are neglected or in some way abused. I fear that the only way in which family carers will get the help they need will be if adult safeguarding access orders are available, so that following an alert the local authority can become involved, assess the situation and, where appropriate, prioritise further support.

As public services shrink, the neglect of elderly and disabled people—even gross negligence in some cases—will become a growing problem that could very easily become a national scandal. Having said all that, I part company with my noble friend Lady Greengross when it comes to Amendment 79. We have the criminal law. It may not cover absolutely everything but I would not want to see any increase in the likelihood that an overburdened family carer could face criminal charges if they reach the point where they cannot continue to care appropriately for a relative. For me, the purpose of adult safeguarding access orders is to ensure that problems are identified—they certainly need to be—and support is made available in order to enable a carer to cope in the style they would wish to provide.

[Baroness Hollins]

My Lords, I support the amendment in the name of my noble friend Lady Greengross on the duty to report adults at risk, which replicates a duty within the Welsh Bill. I spoke to a similar amendment in Committee.

Providers, together with other partners, will often be best placed to identify abuse and neglect, and it makes sense for them to report to the local authority. At Winterbourne View there were 40 safeguarding alerts, 29 incidents where the police were involved and 78 attendances at A&E but agencies did not take any action. They believed it was someone else’s duty to report and take action. Putting this duty in the Bill would emphasise its importance and would be a vital step in ensuring that the local authority is notified so that it can then take the appropriate action. Leaving this to guidance and local protocols is not a satisfactory solution.

I also support my noble friend Lord Rix’s Amendments 79A and 81A on safeguarding. My noble friend has highlighted how abuse comes in many different forms. The breakdown of the nature of referrals is set out clearly in the Abuse of Vulnerable Adults in England 2012-13 report. The most common was physical abuse at 38,500. There were 24,500 referrals for financial abuse, the third highest. It seems an eminently sensible amendment to add some balance to this clause.

My noble friend’s amendment on safeguarding adults boards sending copies of their annual report to the Secretary of State also seems eminently sensible. Looking at safeguarding annual reports across the country would allow the Secretary of State to see the national picture as well as to monitor what works and what does not. Guidance can be issued where worrying trends are observed and good practice shared. This is about leadership at a national and strategic level, which could help to tackle the abuse and neglect of the most vulnerable members of our society. I do not think it is about extra bureaucracy.