Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I made the crack several years ago on a disability matter that the usual suspects were queueing up to speak again. The noble Lord, Lord Ashley, is probably the very distinguished head of that queue. The noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, comes in with me as a new member of the line-up. Her speech encapsulates why this Bill, or something very like it, is needed. It is not that the Government are ill intended or that the bodies involved do not want to do this; they just do not do it—they do not co-ordinate. When you ask the Government to co-ordinate anything, they say, ““We are co-ordinating. We have a group of people who meet together, talk and try to bring things together””. Then something happens—but not very much—and sometimes the Government forget what happened when the people who were brought together are no longer there and have moved on. Whether they are Ministers or officials does not matter; the process goes on. This is why most of us keep coming back and asking for a more solid structure, ultimately involving an Act of Parliament that brings everything together. We need something that says, ““You shall do this””, not, ““If you can, and it is your best intention, please do it now””. It should say, ““You shall do this. There is a sanction if you do not. You have a duty to do it. Get on with it, please, now””. The noble Baroness, Lady Chapman—