Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [HL]

Like the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, for a very full response to these amendments. Will she dwell a little further on Amendment No. 79? It seems to me and, I suspect, those of us who have spoken on this matter, that we are living through a period of considerable change. We know very well about the demographic factors. It is not just that we have a growing number of very old, frail people in our community, but by improved healthcare, we are able to keep alive people who have profound disabilities. At the same time, the Government are pursuing a policy of care in the community, which seems to most of us to be sound. It allows people to have as much independence as possible and remain in their own home for as long as possible. But the reality is that more and more people—many of whom live alone, many of whom may be bedridden, and some of whom have disabilities such as blindness or deafness—are incredibly vulnerable. People who live in residential establishments have a group of people around them all the time. It is very rare for staff in residential establishments to be unsupervised; but somebody going into another person’s home to provide care does so, in general terms, unsupervised. They have incredible access to that person’s lifestyle and all that that entails. Experience shows that people in such circumstances can be more vulnerable to exploitation than people who live in residential establishments. Sometimes, I regret to say, vulnerability can be the cause of the actions of their nearest and dearest relatives. We should not be na&-uml;ve about this; some of these people will have considerable personal resources. There is something inconsistent in not providing the quality of protection that is available to other people. I urge the noble Baroness to think again about this. The thrust of the amendments go along with the spirit of the Bill and with what is happening in the community in terms of demographic changes. The amendments are in line with the Government’s policy to enable people to live in their own home for as long as possible and to retain whatever independence is open to them. I hope that the noble Baroness might be persuaded at least to give the amendments further consideration.