Clause 2
Health and Social Care Bill
3:30 pm
Stephen O'Brien (Shadow Minister, Health; Eddisbury, Conservative)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. The clause, as drafted, refers to
“the need to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare of children and vulnerable adults”.
All I hope to achieve by the amendment is that the duty is for all adults. Some of them might be regarded as not currently vulnerable, but their needs should become part of what the duty of care and the services cover. I hasten to say that he was being supportive because, if the provision leads with vulnerable adults, lawyers have to say, “Are you in the class that was intended by Parliament to be covered under the Bill?” I am sure that the Minister will agree that the last thing we want is a great bunch of shady lawyers trying to describe, as of today, who vulnerable adults are.
Such issues can move around, which is why I am suggesting that the duty applies to all so that there is no opportunity for people to say, “You are no longer eligible for the services that are covered in this area.” We know that, when pressures are placed on either capacity or finances, it is eligibility criteria that are looked at first. I am sure that all of us know of many examples in our constituencies where local government has sought to tighten the eligibility criteria for social care services. The matter under discussion is such an area.