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.