Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

My Lords, Amendment No. 24 relates to Clause 9. This clause and the regulations which it enables the Assembly to make concern the examination by the commissioner of an individual’s case, or of a group of linked cases. It therefore makes sense that at the heart of an examination made using these powers there must be a specific case to be examined. The Government consider that, logically, this must mean that the individual whose case it is must give their consent. Alternatively, if perhaps they lack the mental capacity to do so, consent ought to be obtained from someone who the commissioner considers to be an appropriate person to give it. It is difficult to see how the commissioner could investigate a case thoroughly when the subject of it refused to give him information about it. If, as I think my noble friend envisages, a scenario arose where an issue of concern was identified by a concerned relative or even a member of the general public, but the older person whose situation had given rise to the concern refused to give his consent for his case to be examined, the commissioner could still decide to take action. He would, for instance, be able to use his powers under Clauses 2 and/or 3 to investigate issues of wider concern and to make a report about them, or issue best practice guidance if he thought that was warranted. Therefore, while I understand the sentiment behind Amendment No. 24, the Government cannot accept it. It would not be right for the commissioner to be able to disregard the wishes of an older person and to examine their case when they did not want him to do so. In its Statement of Policy Intentions, the Assembly government have acknowledged that it is important that the cases that the commissioner takes on for examination,"““raise a question of principle which has a more general application . . . than in the particular case concerned””." That is very close to saying that they ought to be pursued where they are in the wider public interest. Amendment No. 25 seeks to give the commissioner a locus in non-devolved matters by enabling the commissioner to examine the case of an older person in Wales in connection with his power to make representations to the Assembly about non-devolved matters. I have already made clear the Government’s position on this matter on many occasions. We cannot accept that the commissioner should be able to exercise his powers directly in relation to non-devolved matters. In the light of these explanations I hope that the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.