Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

Amendment 9 amends Clause 3(1)(b). Paragraph (b) states that the connection with the UK necessary gateway eligibility is to be prescribed in regulations in its entirety. My amendment would narrow that flexibility. I do not think that there is much of substance between us and the Government on this. The point of my amendment is to ensure that as much as possible is in the Bill, leaving only detail and genuine flexibility to be the preserve of regulations. During Second Reading, we touched on the fact that the Bill is one long regulation-making power. The amendment is a modest attempt at rebalancing between primary and secondary legislation. The Government's draft regulations set out in Regulation 4 that the necessary connection is to be ordinary residence. We agree with that, which is why the first leg of my amendment, paragraph (i), picks that up. Regulation 4 then contains some savings for Crown servants posted overseas and some EU workers, but does not require the persons concerned ever to have been resident in the UK, which I found rather surprising. Hence paragraph (ii) states, in effect, that the minimum requirement is for actual residence at some point, which can then be coupled with regulations to deal with ordinary residence. When he replies, I hope that the Minister can explain two things. First, why cannot the Bill contain the restriction to ordinary residence? The Government usually argue for flexibility in leaving everything to regulations, but I cannot see that it would ever be appropriate to propose regulations that were not based on the fundamental notion of ordinary residence. Secondly, can the Minister explain why it is possible to satisfy the definition in the regulations without ever having established residence in the UK? We are all rather wearily resigned to EU workers coming here to claim all our benefits, which is what Regulation 4(3) allows. However, I am concerned about someone being deported here without ever having been resident here, which could occur under the draft regulations, but could not occur if my amendment, which would insert a requirement for residence, were passed. I beg to move.