Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

I shall respond to Amendments Nos. 82 and 84 before speaking to government Amendment No. 83. The power to examine individual cases will be an important function of the commissioner, and one that may involve considerable resources. It follows that regulations will need to set out in detail the types of cases that may be examined, the circumstances in which the examination may be made and the procedure for conducting an examination. I must tell the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, that I do not have the detail of all those regulations, but I hope that defining the areas in which the regulations will be laid may go some way to answering his question. I hope that, as the Bill progresses, we may be able to give him more satisfaction on the point. Unfortunately, Amendment No. 84 would throw into doubt the remit of the Assembly’s regulation-making powers by making less clear the nature of the matters that could be dealt with in regulations. Amendment No. 82 would enable the commission to examine the case of an older person in Wales in connection with any of its functions, including his power to make representations to the Assembly about a non-devolved matter and also including the power to provide assistance in a case relating to a service provided outside Wales. That is another instance of trying to extend the commissioner’s remit into non-devolved matters. I have taken a position on that. The Government have tabled Amendment No. 83 to remove the provision that enables the commissioner to examine cases in connection with his power to provide assistance in a case relating to a service provided outside Wales. As Clause 8 does not provide for the commissioner to give assistance to an older person in respect of such services, the exception in paragraph (b) is not required. I mentioned the criticism of the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, about the amount of detail that is being left to regulation. I refer him to a statement of policy intent placed by the Government in the Library and submitted to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee.