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Dementia Sufferers

The hon. Gentleman is even reading my mind now. I was just going to come on to that point. On the question of expert carers—hon. Members should listen, because I do not think that this is widely known—we are developing an expert carers programme that we will launch in the summer of next year. Up and down the country, local training courses will be available for carers to help them with practical issues such as lifting and handling and with some emotional issues, so that they feel confident in taking on and working with the professionals and the public services not confrontationally but to represent the best interests of the person whom they love. Empowering people is an important part of improving services. Yes, we can improve the leadership, the structures and the funding, but we also need to give those who use the services and family members far more control, power and confidence to fight for their needs and rights. As well as the new deal for carers, I should mention that the Prime Minister has established a standing commission on carers under the leadership of Philippa Russell, a well-known activist for disabled people. She is a carer herself, with an adult son with learning disabilities. The idea behind the standing commission is to consider the long-term challenges that we face with caring responsibilities in our country. Inevitably, at the heart of that will be the ageing society and dementia. That standing commission will be an important step forward. My hon. Friend the Member for Worsley also raised the question of respite. We have just announced a significant investment, as a result of a lot of all-party support, for disabled children and their families, with a particular focus on respite. One of the things that the new deal for carers must consider is respite care for adults. We have recently put some money into the system, and into local authorities specifically, for emergency respite care. Carers have told us that that is often a problem. When they have an emergency, it is very difficult to access respite care, and we need to build on that. I am proud of the fact that the Government have given an annual grant to local authorities since 1999 specifically to support carers. It is a ring-fenced grant, and it is transparent. In recent years, it has not been ring fenced in the sense that we cannot force local authorities to spend it in the way in which we want them to, but a transparent and clear amount of money has gone to every local authority since 1999.