Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, Amendment 32, laid by the noble Baronesses, Lady Barker and Lady Tonge, would make it an explicit requirement to have an independent review of all direct payment pilots. There is no difference of principle here. We intend to commission a robust and comprehensive evaluation for the pilot programme as a whole. I know that the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, is concerned about the potential effect of personal budgets on other services, as we discussed last week on the first day of Report. We want this to be examined in detail and our recently published tender for evaluation makes that clear. When the time comes, we want the evaluation to help to inform our decisions about the future of direct payments and whether changes need to be made. However, I recognise the importance of the issues which have been raised both today and last week and I accept that there may be a case for being more explicit in the Bill about our intentions. I undertake to consider those concerns and to report back at Third Reading. I therefore hope that the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 33, which the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, also tabled, deals with the provision of advice, advocacy and support for recipients of direct payments for healthcare. It will allow the Secretary of State to require primary care trusts, ""to commission advice, advocacy and support services"," from third parties such as the voluntary organisations. Our policy has always been that people should be properly supported. That is the core principle of personal health budgets, as I made clear in Committee and as we emphasised in our policy document, Personal Health Budgets: First Steps. Again, I am happy to consider these issues further in the light of this debate and the debate last week. I shall consult the noble Baroness and report back to your Lordships’ House on Third Reading. With that commitment, I hope the noble Baroness will agree to withdraw that amendment.