Mary Henry (Independent)

The other case mentioned by the Minister of State brings up exactly what I meant when I said that one could have a situation where all funds were transferred to the name of the other spouse so that the person would seem incredibly poor. It is also necessary to consider the other side of the coin, where one could have people who have been separated for a very long time. One such person could still be the spouse and could be asked to pay money. That person might not be very well off but his or her income will be taken into account.

I repeat that flexibility has got us into the mess we are in because some health boards, realising that they were doing something illegal, as informed by their legal advisers, stopped making deductions. I admit that some of them stopped making deductions only when they were told by some of the people in nursing homes that they should not be deducting money.

This could turn out to be a serious issue because the various people administering the scheme, who we can be sure will be short of money, will have flexibility which may give rise to another inequity in the scheme. I am not proposing this as a hypothetical situation but as one I see coming around the corner.

It worries me greatly that frequently we see legislation being rushed through the Houses even though Members bring up problematic cases that could arise. What happens? A couple of weeks later, or at a very good guess, two years, such a case arises. I see the issue before us as giving rise to disgruntled people making complaints very soon. I believe such people will nevertheless be legally liable because they will still be the spouses of the people involved.

When divorce legislation was introduced in this country, everyone said that we would all get divorced whether we wanted to or not. That did not happen. Substantial numbers of people have not changed from being separated to being divorced. They are the older people to whom this legislation will apply. As couples they made amicable financial agreements years ago but people will now be able to come chasing after them in their old age if they think there is a spouse who may have lived very frugally over the years and is better off than the one now in need of care. I am not putting this forward as a hypothetical case because I foresee such cases arising.