Clause 32
2:15 pm
Mark Harper (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Forest of Dean, Conservative)
We have had a good discussion, with a number of interventions. Certainly, from what the Minister has said so far, I am reassured that there will be some clarity about what unreasonable costs are in the regulations and guidance. It is welcome that the Minister recognises the tension that will inevitably arise as disabled people make choices about what services they want compared with what services are currently provided. That will be one of the clear lessons of the pilots. Indeed, as those pilots are run, it might be helpful to engage with the media and explain that people will make different choices and that there will be creative solutions.
The interesting thing about the case of Mr. Croft and his wife was that—I had not seen the report in The Sun that the hon. Member for Rochdale mentioned, but it was certainly covered in other national newspapers in much more balanced way—feedback from Mr. Croft, his wife and organisations indicated that this was a good way to achieve the outcome, and if the outcome is achieved at a lower cost than that of the official way of doing it, what is wrong with it? There was more balanced reporting of that case than I had thought might occur, so I think that we can be a bit more optimistic about the way that some of this might be reported. People are more open-minded than we might think when they consider what is successful and what is cost-effective, while remembering that it has to be for the agreed outcomes that the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley correctly put her finger on.
With that useful debate and the reassurances that the Minister has given about the guidance and the way that the regulations will be made, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.