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Personal Care at Home Bill

I want briefly to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Mr. Clarke) by speaking to new clause 5, for which I have some sympathy, in relation to the portability of care packages. I should like to talk about the extent of the Bill in so far as local authorities are concerned. Presumably, we are referring to English local authorities, not to Welsh ones, although the Bill extends to England and to Wales. I am slightly troubled about the view that the National Care Service that we are rightly discussing will be universal throughout the United Kingdom. I would not dream of talking about Scotland; however, in terms of the Bill's application to Wales, I am not yet convinced that there has been sufficient dialogue between Welsh local authorities and the Welsh Assembly Government about how this might operate. I believe that the Welsh Assembly Government would be very agreeable to the principles of this excellent Bill, and indeed some of its details. I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister can give me an assurance that proper discussions are taking place between Welsh local authorities, the Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Assembly and, indeed, the Welsh Local Government Association about the parts of the Bill that impinge on the duties and activities of English local authorities. In relation to the portability of care packages between English local authorities, there is a tremendous amount of movement across the English-Welsh border. Many people would find themselves in the same position as if they were to move from Derbyshire into Lancashire, as opposed to going back and forth into Wales from Gloucestershire or Merseyside. There are genuine cross-border issues, but also a worry that while benefits are UK-wide, the detail of local authority involvement in this package is for England only.