Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)

My Lords, this has in many ways been a fascinating debate, which has clearly illustrated the problems of this being a Private Member’s Bill and the difficulties that we are having in trying to raise issues and draft amendments to improve it. There have been a lot of suggestions about how the Bill could be made safer because of the concerns about coercion and protection for people. I will not take time commenting on every comment made, but I am grateful for all of them. On the lasting power of attorney, I caution against dismissing this going into the Bill, given the number of complaints that go to the Court of Protection, where lasting powers of attorney have been abused by people who hold them. That needs to be looked at carefully. I appreciate the fact that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, has begun to look at enhanced assessment for people who may be particularly vulnerable. It would be helpful to know when those amendments will be before us for us to consider them and whether that will be before we get into further rounds of amendments, which we will then be told are poorly drafted or not workable. I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Wolfson of Tredegar, for re-emphasising the criteria about having a fully informed decision, including the capacity to make that decision voluntarily. If I heard the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, correctly, it sounded to me as though he is willing to accept my Amendment 42, which seeks to insert the word “fully” ahead of the word “informed”, to ensure that a fully informed decision is being taken. I will make some comments on poverty. Unfortunately—