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Personal Care at Home Bill

Nothing has been rushed out from the Box. One might argue that it could have been, but no doubt there was confidence in my abilities to answer these questions fully and thoroughly by referring directly to the statement that we put to the Joint Committee on Human Rights. I think I have put that matter to rest. Amendment 31 calls for an annual report on compatibility, but that is an unnecessary requirement because the Bill is compatible. Amendments 27 and 45 would require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament annually on the costs of providing free personal care at home, the estimated costs of that in future years, and the number of people who receive personal care in each local area. The hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) made a number of detailed points about the impact assessment. He repeated a number of the answers I had given to him via written questions, and he went on to make a series of interesting extrapolations, because the impact assessment is in place for only two and a half years. I want to reiterate a point I have made to him on the Floor of the House and in writing: the impact assessment covers only the period from October 2010 to the end of 2012-13. Estimating beyond that point is problematic because of the uncertainties involved. As I said in respect of previous amendments, the proposals in this Bill are a step towards having a fully integrated national care service, at which point a different set of assumptions will need to be applied, and therefore the hon. Gentleman's extrapolations will not apply. I also want to emphasise to the House—the hon. Gentleman acknowledged this in moving the amendment—that we have committed to reviewing the implementation of free personal care within the first 12 to 18 months of the policy coming into force. After that review, it will be possible to reconsider the predicted costs of delivering free personal care and the conditions for eligibility, if necessary. If the costings for the first year prove to be accurate, it would be an unnecessary burden on local authorities for them to have to produce data to enable the Secretary of State to report to Parliament annually on this matter. Such a report would require a greatly increased volume of data collection by local authorities, which I think both Government and Opposition are keen not to impose. There will obviously need to be some increase in the amount of data collected by councils in order that the delivery of free personal care can be accurately considered, and we are currently consulting on what data would be needed and how the extra data might best be collected so that the extra pressure on local authorities is minimised—an aspiration that I think both Government and Opposition would support. On the basis of my responses, I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw his amendment.