Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

In speaking to Amendment No. 109, I shall speak also to government Amendment No. 111, which has arisen from our consideration of the policy on cross-border placements. The intention of Amendment No. 111 is to reflect the policy that the commissioner’s remit should include people over 60 who have been placed by a Welsh body for care, treatment or other services outside Wales. To achieve that, we seek to remove the limitation that a person over 60 must, in all cases, be in receipt of services provided ““in Wales”” in order to fall within the definition of an ““older person in Wales””. If this provision remains, it is possible that an older person who has been placed by a Welsh local authority in a home in England will not be regarded as an ““older person in Wales”” for the purposes of the Bill. Consequently, for example, the commissioner would not be able to issue guidance to the placing local authority concerning the review of such placements. Therefore, the amendment alters the definition of an ““older person in Wales”” to include a person to whom relevant services are provided. The definition of a relevant service, in Clause 6, includes all services provided by the Assembly or a Schedule 3 body, irrespective of whether the service is provided in or outside Wales. I turn to Amendment No. 109 and thank the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, for explaining his intentions in tabling it. As Members of the Committee are aware, services that are provided in England are the responsibility of the UK Government and not the Assembly. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for a commissioner established at the request of, and for, the Assembly in Wales to have the power to investigate matters which are the responsibility of the UK Government. However, the Government accept that the commissioner should have the power to review the functions and arrangements of the placing authority that has placed an individual for care or treatment outside Wales. The Bill as drafted already provides for that. The Government also accept that the commissioner should be able to assist an individual in pursuing a complaint to, or in respect of, the placing authority, and government Amendment No. 111, to which I have just spoken, achieves that.