Appendices
Letter from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales to the Chairman of the Committee
The draft Domiciliary Care Order in Council was today laid for approval by resolution of the House. The Order was formally approved by the National Assembly for Wales on 20 May.
I am very grateful to the Welsh Affairs Committee for having carried out detailed and effective scrutiny of the proposed Order. I was delighted to see members of the Welsh Affairs Committee take part in a joint scrutiny session with the ad-hoc Committee in the National Assembly for Wales to consider this Order. I believe this has provided a sound basis for joint scrutiny work in the future between your Committee and the National Assembly.
The Welsh Affairs Committee published its Report on 5 March and the National Assembly Committee published its findings on 14 March. I am writing to set out how the findings and recommendations of both committees have been taken forward in finalising the draft Order.
The definitions and exceptions required to interpret the matter in the proposed Domiciliary Care Order had not been included in the Order itself. Rather, they had been included in another proposed Order relating to field 15 of Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act 2006, on Vulnerable Children. But because the Domiciliary Care Order was laid before the Assembly in draft in advance of its sister Order, the following changes have been made, many of which address recommendations made by your Committee and the Assembly Scrutiny Committee in their reports:
Re-numbering of the Matter - The proposed Vulnerable Children Order currently inserts Matters 15.1 to 15.8 into field 15. The proposed Domiciliary Care Order, as scrutinised by your Committee, therefore inserted matter 15.9 into field 15. As the draft Domiciliary Care Order was laid before the National Assembly first, the Matter that it inserts has been renumbered Matter 15.1.
Inclusion of the definitions of social care services, local authorities and well-being - the definitions to be used in field 15 which are relevant to this Order (social care services, local authorities and well-being) are now included in it. Both the Welsh Affairs Committee and the Assembly Scrutiny Committee recommended that the definitions which are relevant to this draft Order be included in the Explanatory Memorandum and the interaction between this Order and the Vulnerable Children Order explained. As they are now included in the Order itself this is no longer necessary.
Definition of social care - the term 'social care' which was previously included in the Vulnerable Children Order, has been replaced in that Order by the term 'social care services'. The wording of the Matter in this draft Order, and the definition itself, have therefore been amended to reflect that change. The Welsh Affairs Committee recommended that the definition of 'social care' in the proposed Order be amended to read 'means' rather than 'includes'. This recommendation is reflected in the revised definition of 'social care services'.
The term 'residential' care has been specifically excluded from the definition of 'social care services' for the purposes of this draft Order. Both committees felt that this was required in order to provide clarity as to what was included within the scope of the Matter.
Exceptions - When the Order on Vulnerable Children is made a table will be inserted at the end of Schedule 5 and the general exceptions will be moved to that table. In the meantime, the exceptions that are relevant to this Order have been listed within Matter 15.1. This is a technical change that has no effect on the substance of the Order.
Finally, the Welsh Affairs Committee and Assembly Scrutiny Committee recommended that the draft Order should refer to 'needs' rather than 'particular needs' as it was felt that this would make the term more wide-ranging. This change has been made in the draft Order.
These changes are also set out in the Order's accompanying Explanatory Memorandum, which has also been laid before Parliament.
Huw Irranca-Davies MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales
22 May 2008
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