Schedule 4
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
5:15 pm
James Plaskitt (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Warwick and Leamington, Labour)
I think that those were words of support and I will take them as such, with appreciation as always.
Students who are currently exempted or zero-rated for maintenance were mentioned. There is an issue here, and I am interested in the view put by the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire, because we are trying to address a matter of responsibility. I am prepared to look again at that matter—probably not within the context of the Bill, however, but it does need to be examined. There is a whole variety of students in very different circumstances. All I will say at this point is that the issue merits further consideration. I do not want to go further than that, but in view of the principle of responsibility that we are trying to establish, it is something that I was already minded to examine. With that in mind, I hope that the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey will withdraw his amendment.