Ill-Health Benefits - Non-attributable ill-health benefits
Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Bill
11:15 am
Mr Ivor Caplin (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Defence; Hove, Labour)
I shall go through the amendments. Amendment No. 4, the first in the group, is similar to amendment No. 2, which the Committee decisively rejected in a Division—at least, we had a majority, and the amendment was debated and defeated.
I have already touched on new clause 16. I hope that when he winds up, the hon. Member for Aldershot will accept what I said about flexibility and the need to report to Parliament. I take my responsibilities to report to Parliament seriously. He knows that that is the case because he asked me last week about a written statement—it was nothing to do with this group of amendments—and he received a letter shortly afterwards with a hand-written apology for not being able to deal with the matter in Committee that afternoon. I take those obligations seriously. As I told the hon. Member for Hereford, I am committing the Government to reporting changes on a regular basis. I therefore hope that the hon. Member for Aldershot will be prepared not to press new clause 16. If he seeks to press it to a Division, I shall ask my hon. Friends to reject it on the basis that it would tie down the Government too much.
I am confused about new clause 23. The hon. Member for Aldershot might have to explain it further, because subsection (1) seems to seek to make the standard of proof more challenging. I am not sure whether that is the British Legion's position or whether it is his position. It may be a drafting error, but it would make matters more challenging, and I shall invite my hon. Friends to resist it if necessary.
New schedule 4 takes us back to whether the framework document should be part of the primary legislation. I have made my position clear on the need for the primary legislation to be enabling and for secondary legislation to follow. I shall therefore ask my hon. Friends to resist the new schedule.
It being twenty-five minutes past Eleven o'clock, The Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.
Adjourned till this day at half-past Two o'clock.