Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

My Lords, this is a very welcome amendment. As the Minister said, it is a tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Rix, who has campaigned for so long on this issue, and it is a tribute to the Minister for taking on board this very important issue. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, I would like some assurance that the short breaks will be appropriate. A year or so ago, I met a group of parents with children across the range of the autism spectrum who were very wary of any sort of respite care. They had come back from it and their children had been so distressed that it almost was not worth having the care. They very much hoped that they might be able to club together to provide their own care, because they understand the children. I hate to appear churlish, but the regulations will not be rolled out until 2011. What might happen in the mean time? As these short breaks are essential, surely some provision should be made for the interim. Why the delay? Would it not be worth putting in place a temporary system and adjusting it according to the lessons learnt from the AHDC programme, as the Minister said in his letter of 4 March?