Clause 55 - Cross-border placements
Health and Social Care Bill
9:45 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 317, in page 47, line 39, at end add—
`(3) Regulations under this section may not treat any person differently from any other person by virtue of his place of birth or his place of residence prior to the time when he became subject to arrangements made under section 21 of the 1948 Act.'.
I shall be brief although, if there were time, we could have a much longer debate. I do not want to rehearse our earlier discussion, although hon. Members will remember it. There is concern that if different arrangements are in place in Scotland, the Government may be tempted to issue regulations to try to prevent people who would normally be resident in England from availing themselves of the more generous arrangements that might be in place in Scotland.
The amendment would prevent the Government from discriminating against individuals, either by virtue of their place of birth or their place of residence immediately prior to their becoming subject to arrangements made under section 21 of the 1948 Act. If the Minister is not minded to accept the amendment, I should be grateful if he would reassure us that the Government will not issue regulations that discriminate between people from different parts of the United Kingdom, as was the case for payments for higher education in Scotland, in a way that would not be lawful if it were between people from the United Kingdom and people from another part of the European Union.
Mr John Hutton (Minister of State, Department of Health; Barrow and Furness, Labour)
Clause 55 allows regulations to be made to enable local authorities in England and Wales to make and pay for residential care and nursing home placements in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Existing legislation does not allow them to do that. The amendment would ensure that the regulations were used to prevent local authorities from discriminating against someone on the grounds of place of birth or place of residence when they considered whether to make a cross-border placement.
I fully understand the hon. Gentleman's sentiments. We expect local authorities to make decisions strictly on the basis of whether someone needs to move to be near family and friends, not on where they were born or where they have lived or are living. Councils in England will still need to comply with legislation deriving from sections 21, 24 and 26 of the National Assistance Act 1948 on ordinary residence when considering whether to move care home residents from their areas to other areas. After consulting interested parties, we intend to issue guidance to local authorities explaining how to make decisions on cross-border placements. We do not need, therefore, to specify such conditions in regulations. We will be able to do that under the clause as it stands.
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
That was as clear as mud to me. There is an important issue here in the light of our earlier debate about the devolved settlement and possible problems in that area. However, I sense that the mood of the Committee is not to debate that at length now. We should like to return to this on Report to discuss it a little more fully with the Minister. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 55 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 56 to 58 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Further consideration adjourned.—[Mr. Jamieson.]
Adjourned accordingly at twelve minutes to Ten o'clock till Thursday 8 February at half-past Nine o'clock.