Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I also pay tribute to my extraordinary noble friend Lord Ashley. In laying this Bill, my noble friend has provided another excellent opportunity for this House to debate crucial issues around what independent living means for disabled people. I celebrate my noble friend’s tireless efforts over many years to further the interests of disabled people and his many achievements in this field. I also note the very apt observation from the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, that he always gets his way. Many noble Lords have spoken of the need to transform the lives of disabled people. I hope that the journey from frustration to fulfilment has already begun, although I recognise that there are still huge challenges, not only in terms of access to services but also in terms of equality and the need to raise expectations. I emphasise that we support the principles which underpin the Bill and that we are wholehearted in our determination to identify and remove the barriers to independent living which disabled people encounter day to day. This Government clearly set out their position on what we wish to achieve to improve the lives of disabled people in our White Paper, Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. I believe that we have a fine record on extending the rights and opportunities for disabled people. My noble friend Lord Ashley is right that we need to change the ethos of the debate from taking care of helpless people to a discussion about equal citizens who happen to have a disability. That is why this Government introduced the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, although I realise that it is just one part of the jigsaw—albeit an important one. The disability equality duty section of the Act, which came into force at the beginning of this month, places a new statutory duty on public bodies to eliminate discrimination and harassment of disabled people. It will no longer be lawful for public bodies to design services or carry out functions without first thinking about how disabled people are affected. It is therefore particularly timely to be discussing today the principles of independent living. Just last week, my honourable friend the Minister for disability, Anne McGuire, opened the conference ““Making Equality a Reality”” to mark the first anniversary of the launch of the Office for Disability Issues. The Minister renewed the Government’s commitment to transforming the lives of disabled people and delivering true equality. We know that it will not be possible for us to deliver equality that is real for disabled people without engaging them fully in the process. This is why, at the conference, my honourable friend officially launched Equality 2025, the new national forum of disabled people, and announced the names of the 21 members appointed. All members of Equality 2025 are disabled people and will bring a wide variety of skills and experience to the table to work at the heart of government on policy development and delivery. A key role of the group, which does not represent any particular impairment or organisation, will be to make sure that it reaches out and accesses the voices of disabled people across the country, particularly those whose voices are often not heard. The launch of the Office for Disability Issues a year ago was a real demonstration of our commitment to ensure that work across government would be driven forward to deliver the Government’s vision set out in Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, which is that by 2025, disabled people should have the same opportunities and choices as everyone else. Over the next two years, the ODI aims to: influence and challenge government departments to work together effectively to design and deliver support to give disabled people choice and control; ensure that disabled people see real benefits from our civil rights legislation; drive improved outcomes for disabled people through innovative projects; and bring the voice of disabled people into the heart of strategy. In one short year, it has already set up and supported an advisory group of 13 disabled experts to make recommendations for the remit and role of Equality 2025, has taken forward a project to improve the information available to disabled people, their families and carers and has been closely involved with the Department of Health-led project piloting individual budgets for people with disabilities. The ODI has also launched the cross-government review of independent living, the ambitious programme mentioned by noble Lords, which is led by Jenny Morris, a highly respected independent-living expert. The review takes a life course approach from young people in transition to adulthood and includes older people. It is being shaped and steered by an independent expert panel, which has already met three times and is chaired by the redoubtable Dame Jane Campbell. She is a woman who I greatly revere. One of the review’s aims is to consider and develop the business case for investment in independent living for disabled people. The review team recently commissioned work to build the economic case for independent living, and it has held discussions with other government departments and the expert panel overseeing the review. Many noble Lords demonstrated that there are economic benefits in investing in independent living; however, the economic case must be soundly established. In the short term, the review has identified particular scenarios where removing barriers to independent living through cross-cutting approaches or by investment in self-determination could provide opportunities to reconfigure existing resources with better outcomes for disabled people. The review project team will continue to work with other government departments to develop potential options for affordable models. In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Addington, the review will look across all services, mainstream and specialist, to identify the barriers to independent living. The review will recommend to the Government the action needed to address those barriers, including considering the need for legislative change. In bringing together the views and experience of central and local government, disabled people and representatives from relevant third-sector organisations, the review will develop imaginative new solutions across the whole range of public sector service and support and will make practical proposals for actions to support independent living. Detailed proposals for future action will be published next summer. The ODI is not alone in driving forward action to support disabled people to live independent lives. As a Government, we have taken forward a comprehensive civil rights framework to lay the foundation for equality for disabled people. In addition to the new disability equality duty, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 extended protection to a further 250,000 people by including within its remit people with HIV, multiple sclerosis—like the daughter of the noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes—and cancer. People with mental health conditions will also now find it easier to use the protection of the Act. The Department for Work and Pensions is leading work on welfare reform aimed at supporting disabled people to exercise their right to work. The noble Baroness, Lady Darcy de Knayth, raised the issue of disregarding earned income for people in residential care. The department is currently undertaking a review of the charging for residential accommodation guidance, involving a range of stakeholders, including those from the voluntary sector such as Age Concern, Help the Aged and the Relatives and Residents Association. The issue raised is one of those being addressed by this group. Once they have completed their work, which is expected to be in the early spring of next year, recommendations will be put to Ministers in the Department of Health on possible changes to the CRAG and associated regulations. I will ensure that noble Lords receive a full reply at that stage with the conclusions reached, taking account of the arguments put forward in the earlier debate in July. I note the issue relating to the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, and I will write to the noble Baroness and copy that correspondence to all noble Lords. The noble Baroness mentioned the in-control pilots. It should be noted that the people in the pilots were by and large in receipt of very high-cost packages of care. Similar savings cannot be assumed for everyone. We are aware that although this Government have done much to promote equality for disabled people, there are still challenges, as we discussed earlier this week at a meeting on independent living organised by the excellent organisation RADAR. We heard about the barriers which people still face and the concerns people have around issues like having multiple assessments—a matter referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale—variations in provision between local authorities and levels of funding. I understand these concerns, which are all too real. The Government are not complacent. In the Department of Health’s White Paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say we set out a programme to deliver the strategic objective of focusing services around the needs of individuals. In relation to disparate provision from different local authorities, one of the problems is that we all agree that decentralisation of provision is a very noble and good aim, and we are all aiming for it but it usually means a difference in the care available.