Clause 1 - Additional powers to obtain information
Social Security Fraud Bill
10:30 am
Mr Jeff Rooker (Minister of State, Department of Social Security; Birmingham, Perry Barr, Labour)
I will briefly address the central point raised by the hon. Lady. The Department would not prosecute an employee or servant of an organisation. There is no prospect of that happening. The organisation would be the subject of any legal action.
Paragraphs 4.4 to 4.8 of the code of practice explain what would happen if there was a failure to comply. Concerns have been raised that we would prosecute employees, but we have made it clear that that will not happen. The draft code deals with the issue of subcontractors, and we shall conduct thorough consultations about that once the Bill receives Royal Assent.
People who do not have access to information will not be prosecuted. The Bill empowers the Government to target people who have access to information, if they do not comply, but I envisage that such situations would rarely arise.
Organisations may identify individuals as responsible for fielding inquiries, because the Department may initially write to a company to request information, and the letter may refer to the code of practice and ask whether a specific employee is to be designated to deal with the matter. In such circumstances, the employee would be categorised as the servant of the organisation. However, the organisation, rather than their employees, would be held responsible for non-compliance. I hope that that reassures the hon. Lady.