Greater London Authority Bill

I, too, have been sent the six-page briefing and I will also spare the Committee most of it. In any case, the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, gave a good idea of what it is about. She has huge experience of local government and London, and I have neither. I apologise for coming to the Committee late but I was in a meeting. I wish that I had heard the whole debate on Amendment No. 44. I know how important it is to have the right treatment and equipment at the appropriate time in the rehabilitation of someone with a locomotor—from my point of view—or sensory impairment. That is essential if they are to be successfully rehabilitated and able to stay as healthy and mobile as possible, achieve their maximum potential and make a contribution to the community. My noble friend Lord Low is very sorry that he cannot be here. He is in Australia. He very much approves of this amendment and says that he backs it. He agrees that there is a severe shortage of rehabilitation officers. The briefing is interesting. It states that 94 per cent of local authorities in England do not employ staff who carry out full holistic assessments of individual need on the visually impaired. They are much disadvantaged. The majority of rehabilitation workers are qualified to undertake a specialist assessment of needs arising from a person's vision loss but they have neither the training nor the experience to carry out a more detailed assessment of other needs, such as those resulting from physical or mental health problems. Other visually impaired people may be assessed by a generic care manager with experience of physical or mental health problems but extremely limited knowledge of needs arising from visual impairment. You do not get the whole rehabilitation picture. It is well known that the hurdle to accessing social care has been raised. The terms ““critical”” and ““substantial”” apply to people with very severe disabilities or needs. The Government are keen to encourage local authorities and health providers to work together. I appreciate what the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, said and I heard a little of the previous debate, but I hope that we hear something encouraging from the Minister.