HL Deb 14 December 1999 vol 608 cc122-4

2.48 p.m.

Lord Ashley of Stoke

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What powers they have to influence local authority social services; and whether they intend to use or augment these powers to reduce the disparities between authorities.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

My Lords, under both the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 and the Children Act 1989 the Secretary of State has powers to direct authorities to take action where they have failed to comply with statutory duties. The Secretary of State will also have new powers included in the Local Government Act 1999 from 1st April next year. Those will allow the Government to intervene where there are serious or persistent performance failures.

Lord Ashley of Stoke

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his Answer. Does he agree that the Government's review of social service departments has exposed the negligence of some of them, especially the more than one in 10 that are failing in their duties to children, disabled people and old people? Can my noble friend assure the House that the Government will close down those failing social service departments and transfer their responsibilities to neighbouring local authorities unless they are prepared to improve?

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

My Lords, the legal position is that from April next year it will be possible for the Government to transfer responsibility, for the delivery of social service functions to a neighbouring local authority if serious issues arise in relation to the delivery of that service. However, many steps can be taken before that happens.

First, inspections by the Social Service Inspectorate should result in a proper audit of the performance of local authorities; secondly, through a voluntary scheme a process can be put in place whereby those authorities requiring special monitoring against agreed action plans are identified. Also, I commend to my noble friend the recent production of performance indicators which allow local authorities to compare the performance of their social service functions with that of others. Those indicators should encourage social service committees to benchmark their performance against that of other local authorities.

Lord Morris of Manchester

My Lords, does my noble friend share the unequivocally stated view of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, that disabled people needing social services in Bermondsey must not be treated less favourably than disabled people with the same needs in Belgrave Square?

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

My Lords, my noble friend raises an important issue in relation to the different policies and priorities of local authorities throughout the country. A balance must be drawn. But we do not want a situation where disabled or other groups of people are being seriously disadvantaged in one local authority area as compared with another. Of course, it is not just a question of resources. Some local authorities are much more effective at spending their pounds than others. The whole approach of using performance indicators will help local authorities assess their performance and enable them to compare it with that of others. I particularly emphasise the role that members of social service committees can play in looking stringently at their performance compared with that of other local authorities.

Lord Ashley of Stoke

My Lords, is my noble friend saying that he is prepared to take many steps before taking action against local authority social service departments which are proved to be negligent according to the Government's own survey? When he speaks of the inspectorate conducting a review, does that imply that the Government's survey was inadequate? We have the facts; we have the figures. They show gross negligence towards children, disabled and old people. The Government should get on and do something about it.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

My Lords, in cases of gross negligence where people may be at risk because of the inadequacy of a local authority, intervention can take place immediately. Intervention is a policy that I am sure all noble Lords will support. Equally, the establishment of performance indicators is one of the tools by which we can measure the performance of local authorities.

The inspectorate has an important role in monitoring the performance of local authorities; in drawing the attention of local authorities to specific areas of concern; and, in relation to our ability specifically to monitor the performance of 17 local authorities under special measures, we are provided with an effective way to intervene. I am simply saying that there has to be an effective balance between the requirements of the Government that local authorities behave effectively and provide decent services to people who need them, alongside the local democratic nature of local government and its need to develop its own priorities.

Baroness Masham of Bton

My Lords, if the Government have to intervene, what would be the result? What would happen?

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

My Lords, at the extreme end, if a local authority is deemed to be seriously failing and there is no indication that it will be able to put that right by itself, from next April the Government will have the ability to transfer the social service function to another local authority. But my substantive point is that, short of that, there are a number of steps we can take to monitor, to agree action plans, and to ensure that local authorities improve their performance in accordance with that agreed action plan.

Lord Rotherwick

My Lords, the Minister talks about powers being transferred from one authority to another. Does that mean that the budget of the authority which is losing the powers will follow the transfer, or will the Government re-budget sufficiently for that social service to be successful?

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

My Lords, in extremis, which is when the situation may arise, the key point will be to ensure that the services are provided with a smooth transfer. The Government must ensure that the resource position sufficiently covers that transfer. It would be wrong if, having transferred a service, the local authority which lost that service retained the resources.