Lord Weir of Ballyholme (DUP)

It is Amendment 553B. As part of that, the commissioner should offer a reasonable opportunity for the person to consult the advocate before a decision is made. Flowing from that, there would then be recorded written reasons for whether that meeting has taken place, whether the offer has been taken up and, arising from that, whether any concerns have arisen from that contact. The point is that those who qualify for this advocate should be disabled, and it should not be a question of a commissioner simply picking and choosing who they feel falls into that category. Even advocates of the Bill would say that this is based upon the idea of autonomy, and autonomy is very much at the heart of this amendment. There must be the opportunity for a disabled person to say that they want to meet or have an advocate. It is a matter of choice for them. Therefore, it would not be forced upon anyone, but the availability of it would be guaranteed. This is important, because we know that an independent advocate can do a number of things. Mention has been made already of the dangers for people with communication difficulties. If we are dealing with a sensitive subject, getting the communication wrong can be critical. For many disabled people, there can be issues around misunderstanding. It is important that we have a situation in which people realise that there are other options, and to have that independent advocate is critical. It can provide a safeguard, because those discussions can be, to a degree, a fail-safe to try to detect whether any level of coercion has taken place. That is explicitly mentioned in the amendment. This is a position endorsed by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The committee has spoken of the fact that, in navigating a high-stakes situation for a disabled person—deciding whether or not a life should end is about as high-stakes as you can get—where there are complex legal and medical processes, no matter how much there are attempts to try to insulate those, if there is the denial of support to that person then that can lead to a form of discrimination against them and leave them vulnerable. Similarly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has indicated that, for disabled people, where there is an opportunity for that additional level of support, it can be deeply empowering to the individual. The case for an independent advocate is one which I hope the Committee will endorse strongly, because it is a very major concern of disabled groups. Demos has done a number of focus groups among disabled people. One of the concerns that keeps coming back is a worry not simply about coercion itself but that family or the medical experts dealing with this will put forward assisted death as simply being the sensible option and so will be advocating for that. To have someone who is completely independent, and who does not have any particular views or an axe to grind, but who is there to simply talk through the issues with the disabled person, is critical. In conclusion, this is part of a wider concern. This amendment has been drafted by disabled people. One of the issues, and a frustration among many disabled people out there, is that this Bill is being done to them, not with them. As such, while we in this Committee try to channel those voices, there is at times a danger that we take away those voices. It is important with this amendment, and many other amendments that are motivated by disabled groups and disabled people themselves, that we do not turn a deaf ear to their concerns. We should listen to the concerns that are there and act on that basis.