I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to new clause 5, which is in my name. I thank the many Members who have supported the clause.
I have been pursuing the issue since 2011, initially on behalf of a constituent, a Mr Kenny, who suffered an injury when he was serving in the Army and is paralysed from the waist down. He originally lived in the London
area, but his family is from Edinburgh and he wanted to move back to his family. For four years, he got absolutely nowhere, because neither authority would take responsibility for him being able to move. They argued backwards and forwards. Eventually, his family helped him to move physically, but for a period none of his care costs was being met, until Edinburgh relented and began to meet those costs. By that time, he had incurred quite a lot of debt.
I first raised the issue in 2011. The right hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow), who was then the Minister, said that it should be covered in the White Paper, but when that came out it only related to portability of care within England and not to the devolved authorities. I kept raising the matter and I was assured that something would be in the Bill, but when it was published the measures related to the portability of residential care packages but not home care packages.
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I did not serve on the Public Bill Committee, but I know that this matter was examined there. Warm words have been spoken, but I tabled the new clause because I hope to tie the Government down to a timetable. I want them to make some progress and report back in six months on what further legislative or regulatory changes are needed to make this portability of care a reality; I do not want this to keep being argued backwards and forwards, as has happened for such a long time. As my new clause is modest, I hope the Government may be prepared to accept it at this stage, so that six months after Royal Assent we will be coming back with practical steps that can be taken to move this on. In that way, I hope that people such as Mr Kenny will not in the future be faced with having this argued over their head, with their not being able in the meantime to have the care they need—care near to their family, which of course will probably, in the end, result in a saving to everyone.