Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)

Debate between Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Caroline Dinenage

Thursday 17th January 2019 Public Bill Committees

[Caroline Dinenage]

Let me make a bit of progress and I will hopefully answer the hon. Gentleman in the process, but if I do not, he can intervene again.

The exceptions where it would not be practicable and appropriate would depend on the circumstances of the case. Things such as workload, cost and distance would not count under the qualification of not appropriate or practicable. It might be not appropriate or practicable, for example, where the person is in a coma and the family has requested that the AMCP does not interview the person, because it would cause distress. Another example is where someone at the very end of their life needs to be deprived of their liberty in their last few days, and they do not want to see an AMCP. In many cases, we feel it would not be appropriate to override the person’s best interests and force them to meet with an approved mental capacity professional.

[Mr Dhesi]

The Minister makes some very good points that I have sympathy with, but why cannot we simply include what she says in the code of practice? Setting it in stone in the Bill gives completely the wrong signal to medical care professionals: it makes it the norm rather than the exception.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Caroline Dinenage

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

The Secretary of State was with Andrew Dilnot yesterday, and we are looking carefully at his proposals. My right hon. Friend is right: although 81% of adult social care providers are registered as good or outstanding, it is unacceptable for levels of care to fall below the standards that we would expect, and in preparing the Green Paper, we will look closely at how we can improve the system.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

19. According to recent polling by the Alzheimer’s Society, public concern about the social care system is growing, and it is clear that action is needed now to fix the crisis. Why will the Government not heed the will of Parliament and commit themselves to closing the social care funding gap, as agreed in the vote on our Opposition day motion last October?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I do not entirely agree with what the hon. Gentleman has said. We provided an extra £2 billion in last year’s Budget to help councils to commission care services that are sustainable, high-quality and diverse. In the Green Paper, which will be published this summer, we will consider how we can future-proof the system.