Clause 34 - Appointment of independent consultees
Mental Capacity Bill
10:30 am
Mr Paul Burstow (Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Health; Sutton and Cheam, Liberal Democrat)
The hon. Lady makes the point more eloquently than I could. I hope that the Minister will keep it in the forefront of her mind when she responds to this debate, and that she will pick up the spirit of the amendments if it is not possible to incorporate the literal letter of them into the Bill.
In their response to the Joint Committee recommendation that I have just read out, the Government said:
''We are working with stakeholders to explore more fully the range of advocacy available, how it is most effectively used and how it might interact with the Bill. The underpinning principles of the Bill in themselves support the objectives of advocacy.''
That begs a question or two, which I hope the Minister will respond to now. What was the outcome of the process that was clearly outlined in that response? Was it simply the consultee proposals in the Bill, or is there still scope for further movement on this? The Government acknowledge that the principles set out in clause 1 and the best interests principle in clause 4 speak to the issue of advocacy, so will the court eventually end up setting public policy in this area by simply making a common law right to advocacy by interpreting that to have been the intention? The Government response states that that was the policy intention. Are they happy to leave such decisions to be made by the court, or would it not be better for Government to be clearer about things and to provide the enabling powers in the Bill?
I hope that one of my concerns can be addressed in this sitting. Confusion is arising about the role of the Bill's independent consultee and what most people who have an interest in public policy in the area of advocacy believe advocacy to be. The explanatory notes state:
''The consultees will act as a form of 'advocate' as they are understood in the social care sector.''
I want the Minister to say who in the social care sector recognises an independent consultee to be a form of advocate.