Clause 31
1:15 pm
Ann McKechin (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Scotland Office; Glasgow North, Labour)
I welcome the debate on the amendment, which has raised important points about engagement with the voluntary organisations that have been central to moving the right-to-control agenda forward over the past few years.
Clause 31 contains powers that will deliver real choice and control for disabled people. It enables regulations to be brought forward that will allow disabled people to require an assessment of the amount used to provide a service, and to require that the authority consults them on how that money is used. This is intended to deliver our White Paper commitment to increase choice and control for disabled people in decisions about how public money is spent to meet their needs and aspirations.
The commitment was informed by responses to consultation and by advice received from disabled people and their associated voluntary organisations, which made it clear that the right to take a direct payment, which currently exists for those eligible for adult social care services in England, is not, by itself, sufficient to give people more choice and control.
Although the amendment is permissive, it would signal a firm intention to make such regulations with regard to voluntary organisations. We believe that the right to control should be widely accessible, and, as has been mentioned in Committee, that means that there has to be the provision of adequate advice and brokerage services. That will be an important consideration during the trailblazer project. Such services are also an important part of the implementation of Putting People First, our policy in England, and that will support the transformation of adult social care.
I understand the important role that the voluntary sector can play. The report, “Improving the life chances of disabled people”, which was published in 2005, clearly recommended improving the availability of advice and advocacy services, and it put an emphasis on the role of organisations that are led and controlled by disabled people.
I can confirm that the report set out a commitment that, by 2010, there should be a user-led organisation in every locality in England—locality being defined as an area covered by a council with social services responsibility. My understanding is that that timetable remains in place
User-led organisations are key both to delivering personalisation and achieving independent living. The Health Department in England is investing £1.65 million in ULO development funds to support the development of up to 25 action and learning sites. Such sites will share best practice with organisations interested in becoming a ULO, or in supporting the development of one in another local authority area.
The action and learning sites will focus on developing ways of becoming organisations that meet the life chances recommendation, and they will share that learning with other groups across the country.
The hon. Member for Rochdale made the important point that it is not a case of one size fits all, and that it is important to consider different models. Moreover, we have to remember that disabled people will not always wish to look to a voluntary organisation to support their use of direct payments. In the evaluation of the Department of Health-led individual budgets, it was found that many participants took the opportunity to involve their family and friends in deciding how to spend their budget to meet their outcomes. As we develop the personal health budgets pilots, we are placing an emphasis on avoiding prescription with regard to how information and support service are provided. We will be following that model for these particular provisions.
Key principles in developing the right to control are consultation and co-production. We want public authorities to take the initiative in provision. We want to engage with local expertise to apply as much of that as possible to the provision of advice and information that we give. That is why I am keen for legislation to avoid setting out prescription.