Carers (Equal Opportunities) Bill - Third Reading Speech

Mr. Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam) (LD): It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Coatbridge and Chryston (Mr. Clarke). I commend and appreciate the work that he has done for and on behalf of disabled people, carers and others over a long period. We should reflect what the right hon. Gentleman said about his experience of Fridays in this House in previous years, and how Bills designed to advance the rights of disabled people did not make its way on to the statute book. I have a particular interest in that as an issue, both because of my involvement with my local authority in campaigning for disabled people and because the Member who served before me was a key Member in ensuring that such Bills did not make it to the statute book.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Aberavon (Dr. Francis), as others have done, on choosing the Bill. When a private Member's Bill slot comes sufficiently high in the order, there is a real possibility of making law, so to choose to take this measure through the House is very important. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman also on his navigation of the Bill through its various stages and the discussions that have taken place between the hon. Gentleman, officials and the Minister, whom I also thank. Those deliberations have led to the Bill that has emerged from Committee, which we are considering today.

I am responding as the Front-Bench Liberal Democrat spokesman, but I also have the pleasure of being one of the Bill's sponsors. As mentioned on Second Reading and elsewhere, we want the Bill to become an Act and we want the Act to implemented in practice on the ground. It is important that the spirit and purpose of the legislation be made real on the ground. The key point is to ensure that people are aware of their right to have an assessment as a carer and, as a consequence of that assessment, to have the opportunity of access to services that will help them fulfil their full potential-not just as carers, but as individuals, citizens of our country who are able to enjoy leisure, participate in work and many other things besides.

During the Bill's passage, we have looked back to the legislation on which it is building. There was the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 and the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000. I want to repeat what I said in Committee and ask the Minister to consider it in the future. There must be a point during the passage of a whole series of private Members' Bills that make their way successfully on to the statute book where the Government look at the different pieces of legislation and ask whether there are gaps and whether there is a need to consolidate and codify-in this case, legislation for carers. The Government have taken the opportunity to do so, at least in part, through their amendments to the Bill, but I believe that there is a need for a wider review to take place in the not too distant future.

In debating the initial clause 1, the Minister effectively argued in favour of the need for such an examination. His argument was that private Members' Bills could not bear the weight of enabling us to put on the statute book a full right to equal opportunity. Consequently, that provision was taken out of the Bill, and I understand that it will now be dealt with through directions and guidance at a later stage. It is a pity that the provision could not be built into the Bill. Given that the Government said that a private Member's Bill was not the right vehicle, I hope that we will at some point see more comprehensive carers' legislation that will make the worthy goal a reality.

The Bill is important. It is important for people to exercise their rights as carers and their rights to information. As we have already heard, last year's Carers UK report on missed opportunities pointed out that half of carers had not been told of their right to an assessment. The Bill must put that right. It must ensure that people are aware of their right to an assessment and have the opportunity to have it. Placing a duty on local authorities, as the Bill will do, is such an important step forward.

Carers are the backbone of this country's care system. Without them, the NHS and our social services departments would not be able to cope. We have heard the figures already today, but the 2001 census estimated that there were about 5.9 million carers in this country. The Institute of Actuaries estimated, as the hon. Member for Aberavon said, that carers save our taxpayers £57 billion a year. I was most struck, in examining the figures again, by the work of the Office for National Statistics, which found that many carers do more than 50 hours a week of care and that those carers are twice as likely to become permanently sick and disabled and twice as likely to describe themselves as in poor health.

The hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) spoke about the life cycle of carers from young to old. There are 9,000 children in this country between the age of five and 15 who provide more than 50 hours of care a week. There are 382,000 carers over the age of 65, of which 44,000 are over the age of 85. The Bill speaks to those people and to their health and well-being. I hope that it will make a difference for them. That is why clause 3 and the proposed directions to primary care trusts are a useful addition. They provide an opportunity for PCTs to reflect on and change the way in which they plan, commission and deliver services, and to keep carers at the heart of their thinking.

I was struck by the fact that because this is a private Member's Bill, it is always believed to be important to concentrate the work within one Department. The difficulty of negotiating across Departments perhaps prevents the Bill from encompassing more. We have not, for example, been able to deal with some of the issues for which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has responsibility, which I regret. Nevertheless, the Bill will make a profound difference to the lives of carers. As the Bill becomes an Act and begins to be implemented, we might see the work of the health care commission and the social care commission including a specific examination of how the lot of carers is being improved.

On Second Reading, several hon. Members referred to overlapping benefit rules, which stop carers in receipt of state pensions receiving carer's allowance. Since that debate, I have received many letters from elderly carers who felt insulted by that rule. It is rather like the hospital downrating rules. The Government-to be perfectly honest, not only the present Government-argued that people cannot have two benefits that are intended for the same purpose-in this case, to improve a person's income. The Government say that that is how it has always been done, but I feel that such arguments are among the weakest ever deployed against change. The Government have changed policy on hospital downrating, and benefits are not cut when someone is in hospital. Surely it is time for a similar review of the rules that prevent someone over 65 and in receipt of a basic pension from receiving carer's allowance. It should be paid to such people.

As a constituency Member, I am fortunate to have a carers' centre and an active carers' forum in my constituency. They keep me on my toes and keep me informed. I had the opportunity over the last seven years of shadowing carers in my constituency during carers' week. That provides a flavour, but unless one has been a carer it is impossible to fully understand what it means.

There are 16,000 carers in my constituency and the borough of Sutton, only 3,000 of whom are identified at the moment. We have a lot more to do if we are to reach out, find and serve the needs of carers. The Bill is another milestone in a long journey, which is all about ensuring that carers are not just treated as carers, but have the fullest opportunities to lead full and rewarding lives.

ENDS

To read the debate in full use the following link:

http://pubs1.tso.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/cm040514/debtext/40514-01.htm#40514-01_head1

To read the Second Reading debate in full use the following link:

http://pubs1.tso.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/cm040206/debtext/40206-01.htm#40206-01_head0

To read the Committee Stage of the Bill in full use the following link:

http://pubs1.tso.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmstand/c/st040310/am/40310s01.htm