§ John ThursoTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Scottish Executive on the NHS in England and Wales requiring entitlement cards when the Scottish NHS does not; and how this situation would affect Scottish citizens who do not have an entitlement card using the NHS in England and Wales. [176792]
§ Mr. HuttonThe Home Office has lead responsibility for developing the national identity cards scheme. The introduction of such a scheme is a long-term undertaking and there are on-going discussions to which the Department and Scottish Executive are contributing.
As set out in the draft Identity Cards Bill consultation paper, published on 26 April this year, the registration of individuals and the issue of identity cards will operate on a United Kingdom-wide basis, including if and when the scheme becomes compulsory. However, the use of cards to access services will be a matter for the individual Departments concerned and, in the case of devolved services such as health, for the devolved administrations. We are working together to discuss how any potential differences, including for health service provision, would work in practice.