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Identity Cards Bill

moved Amendment No. 64A: Page 14, line 14, leave out from beginning to ““evidence”” in line 15. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 64A I wish to speak also to Amendment No. 64B. This returns to an issue that I raised briefly in Committee—that of access to health services and whether one has to use an ID card to obtain such access. Clause 15 gives the Secretary of State the power to make regulations which may allow or require a public service to force us to use our ID cards or other evidence of identity. The purpose of my amendments is to ensure that public services can indeed ask for proof of identity; what they cannot do is ask a person to use only their ID card as that proof of identity. This would ensure that a person could retain their privacy in seeking medical help since they would not have to allow their visit to be recorded on the audit trail of a national identity register. In Committee I raised the issue of access to health services where fees may be required. My question is: in advance of compulsion why should the Bill allow for the possibility of regulations requiring the production of an ID card for access to health services where there is a fee? Two-thirds of people pay for their prescriptions. Why should there be the power to require them to produce an ID card in that so-called voluntary period? I am trying to ensure that the person has the option of providing other forms of identity. I beg to move.