Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 24:"Page 6, line 22, at end insert—" ““(   )   Regulations may make provision for the examination by the commissioner of a complaint made by a member of the public who claims that it is in the public interest that the situation described in the complaint be examined and the commissioner is satisfied that it should be examined in the public interest.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, the drafting of this amendment may well be defective. It became clear during the course of the discussion in Grand Committee that there is no provision in the Bill as it now stands for a third party to make a complaint to the commissioner about a matter that is in the public interest, unless the elderly person concerned consents to the making of the complaint. We have a duty to protect the public interest, even though the elderly person directly concerned may be unable or afraid to consent to a complaint being lodged with the commissioner. The need for the power, assuming I have correctly understood the Bill, could arise when the commissioner receives a complaint from a member of the public setting out the circumstances, which should be examined by the commissioner in the public interest. I should not like to tempt case histories in anticipation of anything of that kind, but it could arise where the standards of service for the elderly provided by a named authority are seriously depressed, and the complainant provides supportive evidence, but the complaint is not made with the consent of an elderly person who receives the service. The complainant is induced to make the complaint as a matter of public interest. That is the reason for the amendment. I hope that my noble friend will also be sympathetic to this amendment. I beg to move.