Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill [HL]

My Lords, for more than 25 years now, I have been actively campaigning for disabled people to have the right to independent living and I wish that I had the lung power to regale the House with stories of how independent living has transformed disabled people’s lives, from watching daytime TV in the front room to becoming active citizens participating in their communities, accessing jobs and, indeed, speaking in the House of Lords. For those noble Lords who would like to know more, please—for those who like browsing the internet—just tap in ““independent living”” and ““disabled people””. They will be amazed at what they read. I have also had the honour of working alongside the highly esteemed noble Lord, Lord Ashley, for more years than I can remember. In fact, I am his disability shadow. To participate fully in society as equal citizens, disabled people need their support to be safeguarded in a legislative infrastructure. The Bill provides such a mechanism. It is the perfect complement to the Disability Discrimination Act and the Government’s forthcoming independent living strategy. I am a trustee of the National Centre for Independent Living, an organisation that I co-founded with Frances Hasler and which is committed to the principles of the provisions of the Bill. The organisation has amassed much evidence showing that the independent living support that I enjoy and need to participate in this Chamber is a right denied to many citizens. It is not a right so much as luck: in where you live; in who assesses you; in whether or not you get the information that tells you about your entitlements; and in who supports you to get what you want. I recently had the great honour and privilege of chairing the expert panel on the Government’s independent living review. We advised the Government on how to realise the independent living aims of the 2005 Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People report. For nine months, we considered a range of measures that would help all government departments to develop strategies and projects to support independent living. We should not forget that independent living is not about eating, drinking and going to the toilet; it is about being supported to be an active, independent person in your community. People often forget that. It is not simply about social care but about everything the Government can offer to ensure that the public can contribute actively. The panel’s report will be available soon, I hope at the end of January. It is a good report and it certainly takes us in the right direction towards independent living. However—and there is a ““however””—although the expert panel gave much evidence and argued for legislative reform, the Government felt that other routes needed to be tried first. I remain convinced that the evidence demonstrates the need for legislative reform. The current legal framework does not provide disabled people with the tools that we need to embed independent living in mainstream public services or to offer redress—the most important thing—when it is denied us. The Bill will provide the safeguards that we as disabled people need. It will also deliver significant results for other citizens, such as carers, who are mostly women but who include thousands of children, who are obliged to provide substantial support to families as a result of receiving inadequate levels of support or being denied it entirely. The Bill will further engender equality—caring undermines women’s opportunities. It will also allow the better use of public funds by cutting bureaucracy, by avoiding unnecessary spending in health services and on benefits, by securing greater returns from people in work and by prioritising substantial individual budgets. To be effective, individual budgets will require legislative reform to provide a single assessment process for joint funding streams. The Bill could deliver such a process. The Government have outlined three goals for next year’s adult social care Green Paper. The first is to promote independence, well-being and control. The Bill goes to the heart of that objective and will support it. It supports and progresses the Government’s prioritisation of personalisation, choice and control. It also promotes the Government’s public service quality agenda by emphasising accessibility, flexibility and respect for service users. It will also complement the equalities public service agreement set by the Government. The PSA prioritises choice. Its performance framework contains the means to monitor and challenge progress, but not for individual redress. People will still be told that they cannot have assistance for a bath. It is no comfort to them to know that their council may get a less positive performance assessment as a result. In closing, the Bill and the Government agenda, including the independent living strategy, are complementary and vital to each other. I am convinced that the legislative reform of public service support is essential to ensure independent living for all disabled people. As someone who has been in the business for more than 25 years, I now know the route to disabled people’s emancipation, and it is Jack’s Bill.