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Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, happy days! While many of us were having our summer holidays, the Minister and his officials were working—day and night, I am sure—over the summer with disabled people to bring back government amendments that truly reflect the aims and ambitions of the right to control. The amendments have been grouped separately, but I hope that the House will not mind if I speak very briefly to both. I was in the Chamber at 10.30 last night and, frankly, I have run out of puff. Both amendments have taken my original amendments, the ones that I worked very hard on with disabled people and RADAR on social care alignment and right to control definition, and incorporate both of them more than adequately and, actually, far more than I expected. This section of the Welfare Reform Bill has the potential to empower disabled people to become more active socially and economically by putting them in the driving seat of their support. There are hard times ahead for everyone who needs extra support to engage in their communities. More than ever, we need the right to control that support so that every penny is spent on what we know—what disabled people know—will make us independent and ready to take our part in society, whether that be work or other social responsibilities, such as bringing up families or volunteering. Both amendments take us towards that goal. They demonstrate a model of co-production between disabled people and government legislators and policy-makers. People think of co-production and think, "Is this a new buzzword by Jane Campbell?". It is not because, for disabled people, co-production means simply that: we produce together. We are not just involved, we are not just consulted, we are there as equal partners in the outcome. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, and his officials for showing not only how co-production can be done, but actually genuinely doing it.