Clause 2 - Electronic access to information
Social Security Fraud Bill [Lords]
9:55 am
Mr Peter Atkinson (Hexham, Conservative)
We need not greatly trouble you or the Committee with the amendments, Mr. Maxton, as we covered their flavour in a previous sitting. They relate to a point that we made about the language in the Bill and whether people will be forced to provide information in ways that might be difficult or costly. The Minister of State gave us considerable assurances on Tuesday.
The amendments, especially Nos. 26 and 30, would moderate the language of the Bill. The clause ``requires'', and we want to soften that to introduce more of a joint agreement between the provider of the information and the Department of Social Security, rather than a forcing or requiring. We are asking for more gentle language—``enter into'' rather than ``required''.