Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill

Debate between Lord Vaux of Harrowden and Lord Davies of Brixton

Report stage
Wednesday 15th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

I have already taken the opportunity to reiterate the concerns I have expressed about parts of the Bill. I find myself in the somewhat against-the-grain position of agreeing with much of what was said on behalf of the Opposition. Amendment 26 seems to me entirely reasonable, given the level of concern that has been expressed about the extension of government powers over matters that are essentially personal. Although we are not going to vote on these amendments, I very much hope that my noble friend the Minister, in replying to the debate, will give a clear assurance that these workings—which, it has to be said, go into new areas of state control—will be looked at on a continuing basis and not automatically become a matter of routine.

[Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)]

My Lords, I am generally supportive of all the amendments in this group, but particularly Amendments 17 and 22. This Bill, and particularly this part of it, impose a range of onerous obligations on the banks and other financial institutions that are affected by it and that have to respond to information notices and so on. But nowhere does the Bill provide for how the costs that arise from those obligations should be dealt with, or for how to ensure that they are proportionate.

Amendments 17 and 22 simply add an important level of review and transparency, which would allow us to ensure that the costs being imposed on those institutions are reasonable and proportionate. The very fact of the requirement to prepare impact assessments and to review the costs of compliance should of itself ensure that these costs are kept at the forefront of the Government’s mind when using these powers. I therefore hope that the noble Baroness will accept Amendments 17 and 22.

On Amendment 26, I absolutely support the concept. I am just slightly confused as to whether it is not already covered by Clause 65, but I support the principle.

Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill

Debate between Lord Vaux of Harrowden and Lord Davies of Brixton

Committee stage
Monday 16th June 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)]

My Lords, I speak to my Amendment 79B and thank the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for her support for it. It is a very simple amendment that would make the giving of an eligibility verification notice subject to the same safeguard that already applies to all the other information-gathering powers within the Bill—namely, that the Secretary of State must be satisfied that issuing an EVN is necessary and proportionate for the purpose for which it is issued.

The Minister will no doubt have noticed that I have taken the liberty of inserting “reasonably” into the amendment, as we have just been discussing. Otherwise, the wording is aligned with the safeguard in Clause 3(1)(a), in relation to the Cabinet Office Minister requiring information, and to the wording in Clause 72, in relation to the Secretary of State for the DWP requiring information about suspected fraud under new Section 109BZB(1)(b). This safeguard applies everywhere in the Bill whenever the required information relates to suspected fraud. Rather strangely, however, it does not appear in Schedule 3, where there is no suspicion. That seems the wrong way round. Surely it is even more important that the giving of an information notice should be necessary and proportionate in cases where there is no suspicion.

I am assuming that this omission is in fact an oversight and that, given that it appears everywhere else in the Bill, the Minister will simply accept it. If not, she will need to explain why the exercise of these important and intrusive suspicionless information-gathering powers should not have to be, at the very least, necessary and proportionate in the same way as the exercise of the other information-gathering powers have to be. I will take a little bit of convincing, I am afraid.

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 80. There is a certain amount of overlap with other amendments not just in this group, obviously, but in other groups. The mysteries of the grouping of amendments are beyond my pay grade, but we are in a situation where we are bound to discuss the same subject again and again—and, I suspect, again. I will read with interest what my noble friend the Minister said in replying to the previous debate. At the conclusion of all these overlapping debates it would be useful to the Committee if she could write a letter explaining how this whole thing fits together.