My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 18 in this group as well. I have already expressed my support for the Bill, which will make a huge difference to the lives of users of social care services and their families. However, a little more can be done to reform the Bill in the areas of information and advice, and also complaints and redress. I welcome the fact that the Government have recognised this issue and that the Minister has tabled amendments on their behalf. This shows that the Government accept the need for proactive engagement around information and advice, the importance of understanding when and how people access information, and the need for a focus on identifying those who would most benefit from it. These issues reflect exactly the thrust of my amendments except that, unlike the Government’s, mine relate to all information and advice about care and support, not just financial information and advice.
While I welcome the emphasis on proper access to financial advice, it seems a bit inconsistent not to apply this proactive approach to all forms of information and advice about care. For example, even when considering financial options, it is difficult to disentangle these from information that is needed about other aspects of care such as the choice of providers. It might even apply to housing, which was addressed in the debate on the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Best.
At a time when local authority budgets are under increasing pressure, it is all the more important that people needing social care services are supported to efficiently access all existing sources of support fairly, equitably and transparently, and that local authorities are held to account for the decisions they make about distributing resources. Consumers have to feel that they are in control of their own care, understand what support they can expect and have the ability to speak up when they are treated unfairly. My amendments are designed to further these aims and I am grateful to Which? for assisting me in validating the consumer detriment aspects of this argument.
First, in Amendment 13 to Clause 4(1), as well as the local authority having the duty to,
“establish and maintain a service for providing people in its area with”—
care and support information, I would like to see the local authority having a supporting obligation to “facilitate access to” that service. Secondly, my Amendment 18
to Clause 4(4) would expand the local authority’s duty of information and advice provision beyond those to whom it is being provided to also include those,
“who would benefit from receiving it”.
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These amendments would ensure that in fulfilling their duties relating to information and advice, local authorities have a proactive strategy to reach out to those in their area who would benefit from such information and advice, recognising that not everybody will request it and may not proactively approach the local authority. The focus for the local authority should be on improving outcomes through targeted information and advice that people can access at the right time and in the right way. The first of these amendments was raised in Committee and the Government responded that statutory guidance would make it clear that in order to fulfil the duty around information and advice, local authorities will need to facilitate access to it. However, I believe that this does not go far enough—the principle of proactive outreach should be a central part of this duty and therefore should be in the Bill.
The second amendment pertains to the same aim. Clause 4(4) was added to the revised Bill in response to concerns raised by the draft Care and Support Bill Joint Committee that the Government’s plans for information and advice provision by local authorities were too focused on online provision when we know that many older and, indeed, many younger people prefer to access information through different channels, such as by telephone or face to face. This addition, which states that information and advice must be,
“accessible to, and proportionate to the needs of, those for whom it is being provided”,
was intended to address this and concerns raised by the committee—I was privileged to be a member of it—that people who need it would not have a right to more intensive forms of support, such as advocacy.
Research for Which? has shown that often the problem is that people do not know what they need to know. One carer said, “It’s a chicken and egg process—before you can find the answer you’ve got to know that you’ve got a question that needs answering.” People also need information and advice at key pinch points; we know this. This amendment would ensure that local authorities consider these when designing their information and advice strategies. For example, people often see their general practitioner as a focal point for information and advice about care, and while the GP may not always be in the best position to give this advice, local authorities can proactively engage with GPs and other health services in their area in order to ensure access to information and advice about care for those who would otherwise slip under the radar. I beg to move.