Speeches by Wood.

“As the Minister said, clause 15 establishes that a payable amount is a recoverable amount as defined in previous provisions of the legislation, while clause 16 further grants the Minister the power to apply to the county court for a recovery order. That ensures that a recoverable amount is treated as an enforceable pay…”

“Clause 13 sets out that the Minister can use powers to recover amounts from a penalty, such as late payment, but also relevant costs to be awarded by a court or tribunal. Relevant costs rightly also include costs that are reasonably incurred by the Minister in exercising the powers in chapter 4. Can the Minister share …”

“My hon. Friend is of course absolutely right. We are told that many of these questions will be addressed at a later date, whether through regulation or through a non-statutory code of practice, but we are being asked to consider this Bill now, and scrutinise these clauses when that information is not available. Will th…”

“I am very pleased to have this visibility of an important element of the Bill. That is one of the reasons why it stands out among so many of the references to codes of practice and other regulations yet to be decided. I do not think that the Government will struggle to amend the figure as appropriate, as time goes by, …”

“Where the individual has not notified anyone of their new employment, does the Minister expect a new employer to have any way of finding out that a new employee is subject to one of these orders? Obviously, there is the question of whether employers are aware. Particularly for small employers, I am not sure that they w…”

“As the Minister said, this is a large group of clauses, so I will try to get through them as quickly as I can. However, given that the provisions grant the PSFA the power to impose penalties on individuals and organisations—powers more often associated with a court or a tribunal—it is important that that we are confide…”

“Clause 44 introduces new obligations for liable persons and their employers in relation to deduction from earnings orders. The clause requires that, if a liable person leaves employment, they must notify the Public Sector Fraud Authority, and, if they start new employment, they must notify the Minister, including a sta…”

“Clause 42 provides that when an employer receives a deduction from earnings order, they may also deduct an amount from the liable person’s earnings to cover reasonable administrative costs incurred in complying with the order. As with the mirror provision for banks, we need greater clarity on what will be considered re…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn Clause 41 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 42 The employer’s administrative costs Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“As the Minister said, the clause allows for deductions from a liable person’s account to include reasonable costs incurred by the bank in processing the deduction order. While the clause will ensure that banks can recoup legitimate administrative expenses, several important questions arise about fairness, oversight and…”

“I struggle with my own name at this point in the afternoon, Sir Desmond. I beg to move amendment 20, in clause 41, page 25, line 16, leave out “40% of”.”

“The clause grants the Minister the power to issue a deduction from earnings order in cases where an individual is employed and has an amount that is recoverable under the Bill. The effect of such an order would be to require the person’s employer to deduct payments directly from their salary and to ensure that those de…”

“I agree with what the Minister says about future-proofing. The affirmative procedure does apply to the measures in subsection (3), which are effectively about future-proofing. Our concern is those under subsection (2), which are about how the powers are to be exercised from day one. Those regulations are not subject to…”

“The clause grants the Minister extensive powers to introduce further regulations governing the operation of direct deduction orders. Specifically, the Minister will be able to regulate the manner in which notices and orders are issued by the Minister; the process by which banks and financial institutions provide inform…”

“Clause 43, as the Minister said, grants Ministers the ability to suspend and restart deductions under a deduction from earnings order at any time by notifying the employer. As with the equivalent measures relating to direct deduction orders, we are looking for further details on the circumstances in which the Governmen…”

“Sorry, it has been a while since I have been on a Bill Committee. The amendments would allow the individual or organisation to apply for an extension to the 10 working days within which they are currently required to provide information requested in an information notice, if they are reasonably unable to comply. This i…”

“Clause 3 would give the PSFA the power to issue information notices to a third party, compelling them to provide information within a deadline. The amendments set out the circumstances in which that would be done and set what we think is a perfectly reasonable test of reasonableness, as well as exploring the time provi…”

“I beg to move amendment 11, in clause 3, page 2, line 36, at end insert— “(c) the information is likely to relate to the suspected fraud, and (d) the cost involved in recovering the required information is likely to be reasonable and proportionate.””

“His Majesty’s Opposition agree with the Bill’s principles and support the Government in what they are seeking to do, but we will be using our best efforts to try to help them do it better where we can. As the Minister said, clause 1 sets out the functions. Those functions seem perfectly sensible and reasonable, as does…”

“The amendments are all about ensuring that there is not just independent oversight but an effective independent channel of appeal against information notices that does not just go back to the same organisation that issued the original notice. Clause 4 will allow for the person to whom the information notice is given to…”