Chris Rennard has been a member of the Liberal Democrat party for more than 40 years and was awarded a peerage in 1999. Chris Rennard has written his account of becoming involved with the Liberal Democrats with his book, “Winning Here”.
Lord Rennard in Parliament
Wheelchair and Community Equipment Strategy
The APPG for Access to Disability Equipment has called for a national Wheelchair and Community Equipment Strategy, backed by organisations such as the Wheelchair Alliance.
The strategy demands a single, national system for planning, funding and delivering wheelchairs and essential community equipment in England. Services are currently split between local authorities and integrated care boards, creating wide regional differences in access, quality and waiting times. A national strategy would set firm standards, clarify who is accountable, address workforce shortages and enforce consistent commissioning through the Wheelchair Quality Framework and model service specifications. Its purpose is clear: end the postcode lottery, invest in equipment for the long term, and ensure disabled people receive the right equipment at the right time, wherever they live.
I agree with the Wheelchair Alliance that all integrated care boards must adopt the quality framework for wheelchair provision and the model service specification when commissioning services. I also support the call by the APPG for Access to Disability Equipment for a dedicated national strategy for community equipment, alongside a dedicated DHSC Minister to oversee delivery. This would ensure that needs are appropriately and fairly met everywhere. I welcome the Government’s wheelchair quality framework, but it does not go nearly far enough. I also welcome increased use of personalised budgets, but providers and users really need to understand these budgets to ensure real choice and best provision, giving users more control over their daily lives.
Watch the question in full here.
After two weeks abroad with the Inter Parliamentary Union Assembly in Geneva (400 parliamentarians from 120 countries setting the world to rights), and then with a group of European parliamentarians in Taiwan discussing issues such as security co-operation, it has been back to the House of Lords this week.
On Monday, I was working on the Tobacco and Vaping Bill aimed at preventing new generations taking up smoking.
The Government has accepted something I was pressing for in the 2022 Health Bill. Cigarette packets will in future include inserts providing advice and links to smoking cessation services.
I am continuing to press for health warnings to be printed on individual cigarettes. Too many young people take up smoking when offered a cigarette out of somebody else’s packet. Canada has found that warnings on individual cigarette papers are an effective deterrent to taking up smoking and help people to quit. I want us to follow their example and I found strong support including possibly from the Minister.
I also argued for all filters (not just plastic ones) to be removed from cigarettes. The tobacco industry set out to deceive their customers (half of whom will have their life shortened by the habit) that cigarettes with filters are somehow safer. They are not and the filters cause litter in many places that need cleaning up.
