Clause 7 - Power to provide for payments
Age-Related Payments Bill
11:15 am
Mr Nigel Waterson (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Eastbourne, Conservative)
I have made my point.
The amendment would require the Secretary of State to make regulations. It is a probing amendment. We would like to know what is going on. The Government, in particular the Minister, have consistently said that this is a one-off, ad hoc payment. Now, suddenly, it is not: it will become a fixture. All that clever stuff about the payment applying only to the over 70s, which the Minister came up with earlier to slap down another of my amendments, is no longer relevant because the provision now applies to the over 60s, at a cost, I think, of £350 million extra. He owes us more of an explanation of what he is doing in clause 7(1).