Personal Care at Home Bill

My Lords, there is no doubt that most families want to provide care for their elderly and disabled relatives, and there is no sign of that willingness diminishing. As the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, rightly said, there has been no sign in Scotland of carers abandoning their relatives because free personal care is available. However, it is important that we do not wrongly assume that family members are willing and able to provide care; or that the care would be sustainable if it were imposed on family members at a particular time. If you do that, you will often force families to give up work, putting at risk their own health and their financial future. Therefore, you will possibly end up with more people being a charge on the state, or needing residential care or home care, than would otherwise be the case. Some local authorities' self-assessment forms for disabled people ask whether any of their care is being provided by a family member or friend. So far so good; but they then do not include a provision to check with that person whether they are willing or able to provide the care. I remind noble Lords that that goes against current legislation such as the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act and the Carers and Disabled Children Act. It also raises issues under the Human Rights Act. I seek an assurance from the Minister that she agrees that we should always remember that caring takes place within an existing relationship, and that the nature, history and quality of that relationship should always be taken into account before any assumptions are made about a family's willingness to care.