Clause 11 - Access to information, etc by Auditor General
Public Audit (Wales) Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Mr Bill Wiggin (Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Local and Devolved Government Affairs; Leominster, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 20, in page 11, line 4, at end insert—
'(6A) A person commits an offence if without reasonable excuse he fails to comply with a requirement imposed under this section.
(6B) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4A) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.'.
Amendment No. 20 is an alternative to amendments Nos. 17 to 19, which seeks to bring consistency to clauses 5 and 11 with regard to criminal sanctions. It would add a criminal offence for non-compliance with the Auditor General's right of access to general information, to make it consistent with the criminal sanctions in clause 5. I repeat that we do not believe that criminal sanctions are necessary, but the amendment is an attempt to highlight the inconsistencies in the Bill and to try to resolve them. If the Government think that criminal sanctions are necessary for non-compliance by registered social landlords or local government in clause 5, why is it not a criminal offence in clause 11?