Clause 19
9:00 am
This amendment ensures that the loss of benefit provisions in new section 6B of the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 apply where a person in Scotland is cautioned for a benefit offence. As currently drafted, they apply to cautions in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.
I do not need to detain the Committee on this particular amendment. I apologise for there being Government amendments at all at Committee stage. There are others, but we have tried to keep them to a minimum.
As currently drafted, clause 19 applies to cautions only in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The amendment will mean that provision to remove or reduce benefit entitlement for a period of four weeks for all first offences of benefit fraud will apply to Scotland, so the provision will become UK-wide.