Welfare Reform Bill

I am very glad to be able to support the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, in this amendment, and finally to reach a part of the Bill of which we thoroughly approve. However, that is not to say that everything in the garden is quite as rosy as it might be. Perhaps my first quotation should be from RADAR’s chief executive, Liz Sayce, during the first evidence-taking session in another place. Regarding the general principle of this part of the Bill, she said: ""I … think that the right to control is absolutely transformative, and disabled people around the country really welcome it." However, she went on to say: ""The whole point of the right to control, as set out in the White Paper, was that it promised to give disabled people the power to take a range of funding streams, and people want to be able to access that range of funding streams and pool resources to achieve what they want in their lives. If the funding streams remain separate, there is a risk that part of the White Paper’s goal will not be achieved"." Her concern was echoed by Paul Davies, service director of adult social care in Oldham, who said: ""Our experience in Oldham … is that division in funding streams is a sovereign recipe for ensuring that people who use services, or try to negotiate their way through them, do not manage to make any progress"." As the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, said, retaining the explicit exclusions of community care services is likely to cause confusion and is the exact opposite of joined-up government. We support the amendment to exclude the exclusions.