Clause 2
Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Mark Williams (Shadow Minister, Education & Skills; Ceredigion, Liberal Democrat)
It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs. Dean.
We have added our names to the amendment moved by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, and we share a healthy frustration with this legislation. If it is to proceed, and we want it to very much, the tools exist for it to do the job. We heard about some of the practical tools that the commissioner will have to do the job, but the amendments—specifically amendment No. 12—are concerned with the breadth of the commissioner’s reach and the extent of his remit. That debate endured many hours in another place and was mentioned on Second Reading, so—like the hon. Lady—I shall not discuss it for long.
We are talking about issues that have a profound effect on older people in Wales. Many range beyond the remit of the National Assembly for Wales, and responsibility rests here. Our concern is that subsection (2), which limits the commissioner’s general functions, will seriously handicap him in his attempts to fulfil his role as fully as possible. In particular, subsection (1)(d) stipulates that the commissioner may
“keep under review the adequacy and effectiveness of law affecting the interests of older people in Wales.”
Laws relating to pensions and tax credits have an enormous effect on the interests of older people in Wales, but as the Bill stands, the commissioner’s role in such issues is limited. I do not hold out much hope that the Minister will be positive towards the amendment, but if it were agreed to, it would significantly broaden the commissioner’s role. We strongly welcome the Bill, and we strongly endorse its proposals; however, we must go forward if it is to be meaningful.
On Second Reading, the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham said that it seemed strange that the Government were introducing the position as a Wales-only role, given that the UK Government have an enormous role to play and an enormous influence over the welfare of Welsh older people. Perhaps it would have been wiser to have a UK-wide commissioner, or at least to grant the Welsh commissioner more influence over non-devolved matters, as the amendments would provide.
Amendment No. 18 stands in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik). We would include in the Bill as one of the commissioner’s core functions, a responsibility to work towards the elimination of elder abuse. The inaugural world elder abuse awareness day is on 15 June. Help the Aged Wales is prominent in that campaign, and I am sure that members of the Committee will praise it and its awareness-raising agenda.
In 2004, the Health Committee filed a report on elder abuse in which it acknowledged that it was notoriously hard to estimate the scale and prevalence of elder abuse, primarily because
“Much abuse is not reported because many older people are unable, frightened or embarrassed to report its presence.”
So the extent of such abuse is difficult to quantify, but there is indeed a problem.
Abuse can take many forms—sexual, financial, medical, physical or psychological—and ruins the lives of many innocent and vulnerable people.
The Health Committee went on to say:
“Often care staff take no action because they lack training in identifying abuse or are ignorant of the reporting procedures... The lack of training in issues relating to elder abuse...is encountered in all the settings in which abuse occurs.”
Crucially, it concluded:
“we strongly endorse any measures that make available advocacy services for older people.”
I strongly congratulate the Government on the establishment of an older people’s commissioner. The commissioner will be in a unique position to combat elder abuse. As an independent advocate for older people, he will be able to provide excellent counsel for those in need and guidance to service providers on how to recognise and deal with the problem, and to issue strong recommendations to the Assembly on how to tackle elder abuse at policy level.
I am sure that many Members here agree with me that making the eradication of elder abuse in Wales one of the commissioner’s core tasks would send a clear message that our political leaders are alive to the severity of the problem and are determined to stamp it out. On that basis, in pursuing the amendment, I hope to see this important provision put into the Bill.