Welfare Reform Bill

The noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, makes an important point. It is interesting how there is some support for people in this position where they are deliberately made to share. There is a supportive nature to getting a group. I am conscious that there are some wonderful operations that work on that principle, which is why it is so difficult. However, if there were a letter from a psychiatrist that said, ““We will not release this person unless it is into self-contained accommodation””, that would seem to give the responsible housing authority a fairly clear steer towards what he should be spending his discretionary housing payment upon. I do not think we need to overelaborate on that. The noble Baroness’s question brings into focus the problem with blanket exemptions: they are not appropriate, even for the particular group that we feel very supportive of—people with mental conditions or recovering from them. In view of this remise of last week’s debate, I hope that what I have said allows the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.