Personal Care at Home Bill

The noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, has tabled this amendment, supported by the noble Baronesses, Lady Wilkins and Lady Barker, to discuss once again the important matter of portability of care. It is an issue on which she has long campaigned with great determination, and which she again described most eloquently. Of course, we recognise the potential for disruption to patterns of care, which can be the reality for a disabled person who moves from one local authority to another. The issue is addressed in the forthcoming White Paper as one of the long-term challenges of the care system. Further to our confirmation in Committee that we would include provision to effect transitional protection in regulations, as the noble Baroness said, I am pleased to confirm that I believe that we can now achieve what has been long proposed: portability of the free personal care element of a package of community care services when someone moves from one authority to another for a transitional period. In other words, where a person in receipt of free personal care moves from one authority to another, they must continue to be provided with the same package of free personal care as they had before their move, until the new authority has assessed their needs for community care services and decided what services to provide in the light of that assessment. They do not need to make that assessment; that is for them to decide. That will be achieved through a combination of the regulations enabled by the Bill and the issuing of separate directions made under Section 7A of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. Just saying that shows that not just me but the noble Baroness, her advisers and our officials have been closeted together for the past few weeks to reach this solution. The directions will impose a duty on both the authority providing the free personal care and the authority to which the person moves to co-operate to ensure that personal care of the same type and level provided by the first authority continues to be provided without interruption. That provision will continue until the new authority has carried out an assessment under Section 47(1) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and decided what services need to be provided. The regulations will provide that where a person in receipt of free personal care moves from one authority to another, and the new authority is providing them with personal care before an assessment of their eligibility for free provision is carried out, the new authority must provide the personal care free of charge until an assessment of eligibility for free care has been carried out. I am very grateful to the noble Baroness and to her advisers at RADAR for all their hard work with us on the draft regulations and directions, and for giving us a further opportunity to demonstrate the move towards a future national care service. Subject to her satisfaction with our proposals, I would ask that the amendment be withdrawn.