National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Social Welfare) Order 2008

My Lords, I declare an interest as president of Brecon and District Disabled Club, which has 650 members, and also president of the Keith Morris Fund, which assists newly disabled people immediately. This order concerns charges for social welfare services. There is an excellent set of definitions in the explanatory notes, setting out why these services are going to be entitled social care services. That is a result of the scrutiny which the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, referred to, with the Welsh Affairs Committee and others who have clarified the terminology somewhat. As the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, said, this has the potential to be more controversial than the previous order. Unfortunately, it has the potential to take power away from local authorities and, not only that, it impacts on the charges for non-residential care services by local authorities which are, as we all know, strapped for cash. The fact that the Welsh Assembly Government settlement of county and borough councils has not always been generous in recent times, for reasons we all know, has meant that in some cases social services budgets have not been adequate. As a result, levels of charging have often varied from county to county. The costs of rural services, for example, are often greater due to population scarsity, demography and logistical problems of providing services. Deprivation is a problem in all parts of Wales, whether metropolitan or rural. Fairer charging for social care services is a very worthy objective, but local authorities know their citizens’ needs very well indeed. The possibility of Welsh Assembly Ministers imposing a regime of standard charging rates on councils may produce inequities in the provision of social care services. I am not saying it will, but it might do so. It is clear that Assembly Members will have to be vigilant in relation to Minister’s executive powers of charging rates. We are in for a fairly sparky time in the Assembly over this subject. One accepts that in specific situations it may be desirable to achieve even a nil charging rate, as exemplified in the notes, but no one should underestimate the inherently high costs of delivering these services. We cannot forget that Labour promised us free social care services, for example, but then it could not deliver them because the budget would not allow it. There is an amazing statistic: 400,000 people in Wales are disabled. It is a very high percentage of the population, including the working population. The number is understandable because we have a huge legacy of a culture of hard and sustained physical work in mining, heavy industry and agriculture. I have some of those aches and pains at the moment. We support this order with the reservations stated. However, the order will have to be implemented with great sensitivity. It addresses only non-residential care by local authorities; residential care is in a different world entirely. With the House's indulgence, I should just like to mention that the Royal British Legion is considering closing its only care home in Wales. One reason is the mix of local authority residents and ex-service people. The Royal British Legion says that the local authority’s pay structure will not maintain the care home’s economic viability. However, huge negotiations are under way to try to rescue the situation. This legislation is a good move forward on domestic care at home for those in need. We have to support it in a way which we hope is intelligent while at the same time pointing out some of the elephant traps on the way.