Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 9:"Page 8, line 15, leave out ““in private”” ." The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall speak first to government Amendments Nos. 9 and 11 before turning to Amendment No. 10 and government Amendments Nos. 15 and 16. On Report, the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, expressed his firm view that the Bill should ensure that there is the opportunity for an older person to be interviewed by the commissioner in the presence of an independent advocate. We agree that if an older person wants another person to be present when he or she is being interviewed by the commissioner, it should be a requirement that the interview must be conducted in the presence of that other person. Therefore, I have tabled government Amendments Nos. 9 and 11 to make that explicit in the Bill. Government Amendment No. 9 is a drafting amendment that simply removes the term ““in private”” from Clause 12(1)(b). That enables the first element of government Amendment No. 11 to provide that the commissioner must, if an older person so requires, interview him or her in the presence of another person of their choosing. That could include an independent advocate, although it would not be limited to such advocates alone. In circumstances where no such request is made by the older person in question, the second element of Amendment No. 11 requires that such an interview can take place in the presence of another person only to the extent that the commissioner and the older person have agreed that others may be present. I hope noble Lords will accept that this is designed to be a thoughtful response to the issues underlying their previous remarks and that Amendment No. 10 is therefore unnecessary. Government Amendments Nos. 15 and 16 have been tabled to ensure that where an older person who has agreed to be interviewed by the commissioner wishes to be interviewed in the presence of another person, that person must be present. Clause 13 enables the Assembly to make regulations that confer on the commissioner further supplementary functions for any purpose connected with his existing functions. Subsection (3) of that clause provides that such regulations may, for the purposes of any such supplementary functions, confer power on the commissioner to interview an older person. Government Amendments Nos. 15 and 16 ensure that any such power to interview an older person will mirror that in Clause 12. Thus the commissioner must, if an older person so requires, interview him or her in the presence of another person or, where no such request is made, in the presence of others only to the extent that the commissioner and the older person are content for others to be present. I beg to move.