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Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 73:"Page 44, line 30, at end insert—" ““(f) any service provided wholly or mainly for vulnerable adults and paid for directly under section 57 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 (c. 15) (direct payments)”” The noble Baroness said: This amendment, along with Amendment No. 75 tabled in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Laming and Lord Harris, deals with the issue of direct payments where potential employees are eligible for disclosure but not the bar. This amendment adds the provision of direct payments into the list of regulated activity relating to vulnerable adults. Under the Bill, recipients of direct payments are not classified as regulated activity providers and therefore do not have to check people providing services to them. There may be unsuitable people who might move into providing direct payment services because the likelihood is that they may not be checked, and in doing so, creating an ideal unsupervised opportunity to abuse vulnerable people. People receiving direct payments must be fully aware of the vetting and barring process, with support if necessary, and offered appropriate protection against unsuitable people providing services to them in their own home under the new scheme. Alternatively, there could be an opt-out check, where direct payment recipients would have to make an active decision not to check providers of services. As the Committee knows, people with learning disabilities who have limited capacity to manage their own affairs can receive direct payments with assistance from a family member or an agent. However, a separate bank account must be used, and if the person concerned does not have the capacity to understand what the account is for, it must be a trustee account. However, in that situation, the agent or trustee is making decisions about risk on behalf of the vulnerable adult. In view of that, we suggest that the bar should extend to employees of people who use a trustee account for their direct payments. Agents have a duty to ensure that services are purchased that promote the service user’s well-being and independence. The well-being of vulnerable people is not at all promoted by their receiving care from unregulated social care workers. The simplest way to achieve that is to add recipients of direct payments to the list of regulated activities. I believe that that would also cover agents or trustees. I beg to move.