I beg to move amendment 109, in clause 33, page 29, line 22, at end insert—

‘(da) cases or circumstances in which an adult who lacks capacity to request the making of direct payments must or may nonetheless be regarded for the purposes of this Part or the regulations as having capacity to do so;’.

With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments 110 and 111.

These minor technical amendments should not detain us long. They allow the direct payment regulations to provide flexibility in cases of fluctuating capacity. Amendment 109 makes a mirror provision to the one in clause 33(2)(e) to allow regulations to be made so that adults for whom a direct payment is made under clause 31 can be treated as continuing to have capacity notwithstanding some periods of incapacity. That regulation-making power allows regulations to reflect the provisions in the current direct payment regulations. Clause 33, together with the proposed amendments, allows regulations to make provision for cases where a person with a direct payment has a fluctuating capacity, so that the local authority can continue with the original direct payment arrangements. This is intended to provide continuity and to prevent direct payments from having to be terminated unnecessarily.

The guidance and regulations that will accompany the Bill are being developed with stakeholders and will be open for consultation later this year.

Amendment 109 agreed to.

Amendments made: 110, in clause 33, page 29, line 24, leave out

‘request the making of direct payments’

and insert ‘make such a request’.

Amendment 111, in clause 33, page 29, line 25, leave out

‘the purposes of this Part or the regulations’

and insert ‘any of those purposes’.—(John Penrose.)

Clause 33, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.