Draft Care and Support Bill 2012-13

This note provides general information on the draft Care and Support Bill that was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 and published by the Government on 11 July 2012. The Government has said that the draft Bill aims to consolidate “provisions from over a dozen different Acts into a single, modern framework for care and support” and to enact “a fundamental reform of the way the law works.” The draft Bill aims to focus care and support legislation on the wellbeing of individuals. Among other provisions, it also places duties on local authorities to provide information and advice relating to care, gives carers the right to support as well the people for whom they care, and includes measures to ensure the ‘portability’ of care provision for people who move from one area to another. The draft Bill also includes health provisions, to establish the Health Research Authority and Health Education England as non-departmental public bodies, and to abolish the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and Human Tissue Authority.

The provisions in the draft Bill largely apply to England and Wales. Some provisions relating to the establishment of the Health Research Authority as a non-departmental public body, the relations of Health Education England with devolved authorities, and the abolition of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and Human Tissue Authority extend to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.