Committee calls for evidence on domiciliary care

The Proposed Domiciliary Care Legislative Competence Order Committee, which has been established to scrutinise the Welsh Assembly Government’s proposed legislation on domiciliary care, has launched a public consultation to seek the views of interested parties.

The proposed Order will provide the Assembly with the power to make its own laws, known as Measures, in the field of social welfare. In particular it will enable the Assembly to introduce legislation to regulate the setting of charges by local authorities for non-residential social care aimed at removing the disparities that currently exist.

In scrutinising the proposed Order the Committee will consider:

• the general principles of the proposed Order and whether legislative competence in the area identified in ‘Matter 15.9’ should be conferred on the Assembly

• the terms of the proposed Order, and in particular whether they are too broadly or too narrowly defined.

Joyce Watson AM, Chair of the Committee, said “The provision of non-residential social care and associated charging arrangements has long been an issue of debate. The Assembly Government is now seeking additional legislative powers in the area of non-residential social care under Section 95 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. This Committee has been tasked with scrutinising the Government’s proposals. It is our role to ensure that the power being sought is appropriate and that the proposed legislation is fit for purpose. The Committee is keen to hear the views of individuals and organisations within the field of social welfare, which will help inform its work. I would like to encourage anyone with an interest in this area to visit our website and submit evidence to the Committee.”

The Committee would welcome views from interested parties on the following questions:

• What are your views on the general principle that legislative competence in the area identified in Matter 15.9 be conferred on the Assembly?

• What are your views on the terms of the proposed Order e.g. are they too narrowly or broadly drawn?

• Do you consider that the excepted matters would hinder the effectiveness of any future proposed Measures brought forward under Matter 15.9? If so, please explain why.

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below, to arrive no later than Friday, 25 January 2008. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to LegislationOffice@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk.

The National Assembly normally makes responses to public consultation available for public scrutiny and they may also be seen and discussed at Committee meetings. If you do not want your response or name published it is important that you specify this at the end of your submission.