§ 3 p.m.
§ Lord BrockwayMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will amend the regulations governing the special voucher scheme for immigrants to settle in Britain in order to permit a woman to be regarded as head of a family.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Elton)My Lords, a woman is regarded as a head of household for the purposes of the special voucher scheme if she is single, widowed or divorced. A married woman is also regarded as a head of household if her husband is incapable for medical reasons of acting as the head. The Government do not propose to bring other married women within the definition of a head of household.
§ Lord BrockwayMy Lords, have the Government noted the decision by five Law Lords on 7th June that the special voucher scheme is discriminatory against women? Moreover, has he noted that it was only by three votes to two that it was described as unlawful? In view of that, will the Government look again at this matter so as to carry out the principle which Parliament has endorsed of no sex discrimination?
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, in the case of Amin, to which I think the noble Lord refers, your Lordships found that married women are, indeed, treated differently from married men; but this is not unlawful because the special voucher scheme does not come within the scope of the 1975 Act. To elaborate, Mrs Amin lives in India and is married to an Indian citizen. She did not come under any pressure to leave India and therefore this is not the kind of case for which the special voucher scheme is intended.