Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 7:"Page 8, line 12, after ““section”” insert ““2,””" The noble Lord said: My Lords, we sometimes look at something and say, ““What this could have been””. Then we say, ““But it has fallen far short of what we would like it to be””. But possibly half a loaf is better than no bread. This might just be the beginning of an evolution of thinking in this direction. I draw your Lordships’ attention to Amendment No. 8. In all our contributions from the Liberal Democrat Benches we are concerned that no older person in any circumstances whatever will feel that they are beyond the reach of a commissioner and of help. That is all that we want. Cross-border matters and non-devolved matters all affect older people. As my noble friend Lord Thomas of Gresford said, most problems that really affect people are connected with pensions and benefits. Those, of course, are non-devolved matters and, being so, the commissioner is unable to tackle them in any way at all. However, the citizen’s advice bureau tells us that those are the matters which most concern people. As the Minister said, the commissioner is appointed by the National Assembly. We have to accept the limitations of that office. As the Minister also said, we are to have a Government of Wales Bill. When that goes through the House we may have to revisit the powers of the Commissioner for Older People in Wales. The amendment to which I draw noble Lords’ attention would ensure that no older person in a hospital, a care home, a residential home or even in his own home was beyond the reach of the commissioner’s help. That is why we seek to enable the commissioner to interview a person in the latter’s own home at the request of that individual. The elder abuse movement states that most instances of ill treatment of older people occur in their own homes. The Community and District Nursing Association conducted an elder abuse survey. Some 276 responses were received. The survey states:"““The results have shown that 40% [of the responses] have witnessed or have been aware of elder abuse during 2004””," with 82 per cent of those instances occurring in the patient’s own home. The survey continues:"““In 77% of cases referred to they are carried out by a family member of the victim””." That is a very real worry. A person’s own home should, at his or her invitation, be open to a commissioner to enable the latter to help the person. I am told that an opinion poll to be released in the next few weeks will show that 19 per cent of the general public are personally aware of elder abuse. We could press the amendments but, following extensive discussions, I believe that Her Majesty’s Government are aware of the situation and that they are convinced that this Bill and existing legislation are sufficient to protect older people. The Minister knows that I am not totally convinced by that argument. However, the government amendments that are tabled today go a considerable way to meet our concerns, for which I am grateful. I may not speak again tonight as that enables us to cover the ground quickly. Therefore, I take this opportunity to thank the noble Lord, Lord Evans, and his colleagues for being open to discussion and for having responded to our concerns to a certain extent. I also thank the Bill team, who have been trying to meet our criticisms and anxieties. Having spoken to the amendments, I will beg leave to withdraw them at the appropriate time. I welcome government Amendments Nos. 11 and 16. I beg to move.