Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 6: 6: Clause 4 , page 6, line 9, after ““practical”” insert ““advice, advocacy,”” The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendment No. 7. These amendments address Clause 4, which is probably the heart of the Bill. They have been tabled to draw attention to the need for advocacy and support for any form of independent living. Making sure that you actually get the right advice and that it is delivered in a way that can be understood is crucial to anyone who wants to conduct their life in their own way. Knowing what is out there and engaging in an interchange of ideas is vital. I suggest that Amendment No. 6 would strengthen the core aim of the Bill. The same is true of Amendment No. 7, which would enable people to go to the organisations that are effectively the bulwark of those support groups which actually help people through advice and advocacy procedures. The organisations for and, better still, of disabled people that address these issues on a day-to-day basis will be the best source of practical information for those involved in giving the right advice. I commend both of these amendments to the noble Lord, Lord Ashley, and I hope he will take them in the spirit in which they were put forward. The amendments will strengthen the Bill and I hope that he will feel able to support them. I beg to move.