Personal Care at Home Bill

My Lords, one thing that has come out very clearly from the debate is the extreme doubt about the cost to local authorities of what is proposed in the Bill. Wide-ranging figures have been suggested but I will not go into that now. Local authorities have asked that if the estimated cost is exceeded the Government should agree to pick up the whole of the bill. It cannot be asking much of the Minister kindly to give them that assurance this evening since it is in accordance with the new burdens doctrine. That led me on to another thought which relates back to a debate we had earlier this afternoon—should we be imposing this scheme on all local authorities at once in one go? We have learnt a lot from the Scottish experiment. Some people think that it has worked well, some do not, but we have learnt a lot from it. Would it not be best to try this scheme in a few local authorities as part of a holistic package of addressing the long-term care issue? Should we not try it in a few local authorities, see how the cost works out, and give them incentives from the Government to try it out? We would then be running a kind of pilot experiment, rather than imposing in one great movement a whole package which we would have great trouble untangling should the fears that I and other noble Lords have expressed here and elsewhere prove to be justified. Why are the Government determined on a national scheme?