Care Bill [HL]

Lord Rix Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2013 Lords Chamber

I know that there is a huge reluctance to demand access—we had the same story with children many years ago—but we have to have it; we have to get access in these circumstances, with the support of the judiciary. I beg to move.

[Lord Rix (CB)]

My Lords, I lend my support to Amendment 77, tabled by my noble friend Lady Greengross. I would also like to express astonishment that we seem to have reached the target for tonight before the dinner hour.

My interest, of course, is with people with a learning disability and what is increasingly referred to as mate crime. This is where someone has befriended a person with a learning disability and is exploiting or abusing them in some way. In some cases this person may be living with them and, for example, concerns may have been raised by neighbours that the person may be being abused. Currently, the local authority would be unable to speak to the adult with a learning disability to establish if they are all right as the other person, the third party, always answers the door and will not let them in. This power would change that. I understand that the power on the statute book in Scotland is being used sparingly, and I believe that it is used appropriately.

I now turn to Amendments 79A and 81A, which are tabled in my name, on strengthening the safeguarding clause. Currently only financial abuse is defined in the Bill. However, there are of course many other types of abuse, such as physical, psychological and sexual abuse, as well as neglect. The amendment seeks to rebalance the definition. I understand that there has to be a definition of financial abuse in the Bill as there is not a legal definition elsewhere. However, limiting the definition to financial abuse, suggests that there are no other forms of abuse or that professionals and agencies should focus on financial abuse alone.

Although I do not doubt that people with a learning disability suffer financial abuse, other forms of abuse are far more common. Indeed, statistics on the number of safeguarding referrals detailed in the Abuse of Vulnerable Adults in England report for 2012-13 show that physical abuse and neglect were the most common. We would not wish inadvertently to elevate financial abuse above and beyond other forms of abuse. Of course, I understand that there is a reluctance to list types of abuse in case the list appears to be exhaustive and never-ending. The amendment adds the option to specify other forms as detailed in guidance, which I hope will allay such fears.

Amendment 81A, the second amendment tabled in my name, places a duty on safeguarding adults boards to send a copy of their annual report to the Secretary of State. These reports are important in that they detail the findings from safeguarding adult reviews that have been carried out. In addition, a welcome government amendment has added that these reports must now show the actions that boards have taken to implement the findings.

At the moment Schedule 2 says that a copy of the annual report must be sent to the CEO and leader of the local authority, the local policing body, the local Healthwatch and the chair of the health and well-being board. It is important that lessons are learnt nationally and sending these annual reports to the Secretary of State will allow us to understand the national picture and issue guidance as appropriate. People with a learning disability are some of the most vulnerable people in our country and not to monitor and respond to abuse at a national level is quite unacceptable.

[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.

--- Later in debate ---

Amendments 80 and 82 emphasise the need for involvement of social work-qualified staff—

[Lord Rix]

I fully understand the argument that the Government do not want a great list of what constitutes abuse. However, the Minister said earlier that it would be possible to give local authorities a batting order, as it were, of what is in legislation. I realise that abuse is covered in legislation, but would it be possible at least to make sure that local authorities do not suddenly think that only financial abuse is to be considered when they look at this Bill? That is all I am asking for.

[Earl Howe]

I will gladly look into that point. I am sure that it is possible to do that but, as the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, said, many provisions on the statute book are designed to protect individuals from abuse in one form or another and make criminal offences of those actions. Nothing has changed as regards those criminal provisions. If they need to be underlined, however, and if there is scope for misunderstanding what the Government are doing here, then I take the noble Lord’s point, and will gladly reflect and come back to him on that.

Amendments 80 and 82 emphasise the need for involvement of social work-qualified staff in boards and reviews. In Schedule 2 we make it clear that chairs and members of boards must have the “required skills and experience”. It would be impracticable to put into primary legislation every possible type of expertise and professional knowledge that might be needed. We must allow boards the flexibility to appoint members as they see fit. We will, however, ensure that the importance of social work is recognised in guidance, which will also cover the importance of ensuring appropriately qualified oversight of safeguarding adults reviews.

Government Amendment 81 responds to an amendment tabled in Committee by the noble Lord, Lord Rix, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins. On reflection, I see merit in placing a duty on safeguarding adults boards to publish an annual report. This amendment will increase the transparency and accountability of boards.

Finally, Amendment 81A, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Rix, requires that safeguarding adults boards provide their annual reports to the Secretary of State. With a duty on boards to publish their annual report, we can be assured that they will be publicly available. We would expect the local Healthwatch and health and well-being boards to monitor the safeguarding adults board’s progress and report to the Secretary of State if there are particular matters of concern. To require the board formally to submit a report to the Secretary of State would, if nothing else, undermine the primacy of local accountability, which is at the heart of our approach to safeguarding. I hope that, on reflection, the noble Lord will agree with me.

I hope that I have convinced your Lordships that we have done all that we properly can to provide the right legislative framework for safeguarding and, in consequence, that noble Lords will feel able not to move their amendments.