Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 15:"Page 1, line 9, after ““interests”” insert ““and rights””" The noble Lord said: These amendments are important. I shall run through them fairly rapidly. In Amendment No. 15, the word ““interests”” is replaced with the word ““rights””. The question of human rights comes into Amendment No. 16, which says,"““after ‘for’, insert ‘compliance with the human rights of’””." After that, there is Amendment No. 22, which deletes ““interests”” and inserts ““needs””. Amendment No. 30 seeks to do the same thing, replacing ““interests”” with ““rights””. Amendment No. 45 also refers to that. Finally, a similar attempt is made at Amendment No. 112 to ensure that interests are replaced with rights. In that case, reference is made to the United Nations Charter for Older People. The rationale behind all these amendments is that the principal aim of the commissioner exercising his functions is, as it says in the Children’s Commissioner for Wales Act 2001,"““to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare””," and we wished to put in here the rights and welfare of older people, as far as the Commissioner for Older People is concerned. The words in the original consultation paper might perhaps be better, which say that the aim is,"““to promote and safeguard the rights and dignity of older people in Wales, and to challenge discrimination against older people””." We feel strongly that it is essential that direct reference is made to ““rights””. There is no such direct reference in the Bill, which is surprising, given the human rights basis of the proposed legislation. The reference in Clause 18 to the United Nations principle is welcome, and that will be dealt with in a later amendment. Reference should be made to ““rights”” rather than ““interests”” across the board. At Amendment No. 22, the question we are keen on is that of needs. I am sure the noble Lord will not be surprised to hear me say that this impinges upon the issue of free personal care, where needs are directly taken into account. Such care is needed when people are perhaps living out the last days of their lives, and it is highly desirable that their needs are met by the best possible care. Long-term care has been broadly divided into two areas: nursing care and personal care. The Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly recommended in 1999 that both nursing and personal care should be paid for by the state. This would be a difficult issue for the noble Lord, because it impinges upon the Treasury. Perhaps we will see some issues coming to the fore as they have in Scotland. We feel it is right to raise the issue of free personal care, because it meets the needs of the elderly. It is not good enough just to refer to ““interests””. In the case of the elderly, needs are of primary importance. I beg to move.