Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Clauses 103 and 104 stand part.

Government new clause 50—Providing false information or documents: national security etc defence.

Clause 102 addresses the need for accountability and compliance with labour market enforcement orders. It creates a clear offence of failing to adhere to a labour market enforcement order without reasonable excuse, sending a strong message that non-compliance will not be tolerated. The clause ports over the existing offence in section 27 of the Immigration Act 2016 and does not create a new offence. The clause is essential to ensure that labour market enforcement orders hold real weight and authority in our legal framework.

The penalties under clause 102 are designed to be fair yet firm, with varying limits for summary conviction in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and up to two years’ imprisonment or fine on conviction on indictment. The range of penalties enables the courts to respond proportionately to the severity of each offence, ensuring that justice is both accessible and effective across the UK. By maintaining meaningful penalties, we maintain a powerful deterrent against non-compliance, which encourages individuals and businesses to uphold their obligations and respect labour Laws. The approach we have taken in the clause emphasises both accountability and fairness, ensuring consistent enforcement across jurisdictions.

I turn to clause 103. For the fair work agency to enforce effectively, it needs to rely on the information it gathers. Providing false information slows investigations down and slows down justice for workers. The clause therefore carries over and consolidates offences from predecessor legislation to create a single offence of providing false information. The clause provides that an offence is committed when a person

“produces, or knowingly causes or allows to be produced, any information or document” that is materially false. It provides that an offence is committed when the person providing information is either aware that it is false when providing it or has not taken reasonable action to confirm its accuracy. The clause also sets out the penalties applicable in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is right that falsifying documents should carry a criminal penalty.

Clause 104 provides a vital tool in the arsenal of our labour enforcement officers. Employment rights enforcement is generally a civil regime, founded on consensual investigations. That is right and proportionate, but it is important that there is a clear course of action when individuals block or stymie investigations. The clause creates a single offence for anyone who intentionally obstructs an officer or fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with their lawful requirements. In doing so, the clause consolidates similar offences in the predecessor legislation for the current enforcement bodies.

Clause 104 is fundamental to ensuring that enforcement officers can perform their duties without interference, which is essential for effective labour market oversight. Obstructing officers’ work undermines these efforts, delaying investigations and weakening compliance. The clause directly addresses this issue by establishing clear consequences for those who intentionally hinder enforcement officers in the execution of their duties. The penalties in the clause are proportionate but firm, with tailored limits across UK jurisdictions. This approach ensures consistent consequences for obstruction, reinforcing compliance with employment rights law and protecting workers’ rights, fostering a safer and fairer labour market.

As we deliver this upgrade to enforcement, we need to ensure that there are safeguards in place to prevent action that might interfere with the work of the intelligence agencies and could be detrimental to national security. That is why we have tabled new clause 50, which provides a defence for individuals to the offence of providing false information in clause 103. The defence applies only where the Secretary of State has issued a certificate stating that they believe it necessary for the person to engage in such conduct for reasons of national security, preventing or detecting serious crime, or maintaining the economic interests of the country. The new clause sets out that such a certificate may be revoked by the Secretary of State at any time. This is a necessary exemption; it maintains the ability of the Secretary of State to carry out their enforcement function, while balancing national security interests.

I will focus the Majority of my comments on Government new Clause 50. As the Minister has outlined, the new clause provides a defence to the offence in clause 103 of providing false information or documents in response to a requirement imposed by the Secretary of State under part 5 of the Bill. The defence would apply if the Secretary of State certified that the conduct in question was necessary in the interests of national security, or for those other reasons that the Minister outlined.

I think we can all categorically understand the defence of the conduct being necessary in the interests of national security—that is uncontroversial. Likewise, when it is for the purposes of preventing or detecting serious crime—that seems relatively uncontroversial. It is slightly more open to interpretation, but is clearly put forward with good will. Indeed, the prevention and detection of serious crime is something that we all wish to see.

On conduct that is

“in the interests of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom”,

again, on the face of it, that is something we all want to see; we all want the economic wellbeing of our great country to be protected. So, on the face of it, these measures seem sensible. However, that third defence—the economic wellbeing defence—seems incredibly broad and ill-defined. I would be grateful if the Minister could provide a more detailed explanation of what exactly it means, and how the discretion of the Secretary of State would be circumscribed in deciding what matters genuinely relate to the interests of the economic wellbeing of the United Kingdom and what do not.

If we put a bunch of lawyers in a room, they could come up with virtually any reason why something could fall within the interests of the economic wellbeing of the United Kingdom. I do not think that anybody—including the Minister, from the perspective of ensuring that his Bill works once it is an Act, or indeed of the national interest of the United Kingdom—would want to see such an ill-defined phrase enabling a legal argument that virtually anything relates to the economic wellbeing of the United Kingdom. For example, would a fraction-of-a-per-cent drop in growth be defined as relating to the UK’s economic wellbeing? I do not think that the new clause is sufficiently well defined to give the Minister the powers that I think he is looking for within the confines of this proposed legislation, or indeed to give the outside world the confidence that it needs to understand the full scope of what is going on here.

I understand the point that the Shadow Minister is making, but this phrase seems to be well established in the relevant legislation. It appears in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and other legislation that establishes legal parameters around the security services, and appears to have first been used in this House by Douglas Hurd. I do not know whether the Minister will also respond to this, but does the hon. Member accept that these provisions appear to be carrying forward some well-established and understood legal concepts?

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that this is a well-established form of wording, and I do not think there is anything between our positions on national security. However, even if it is well entrenched in previous legislation, leaving “economic wellbeing” so ill-defined presents an open goal to those who would wish to abuse that definition. Indeed, if we had proposed such a broad and ill-defined Opposition Amendment, I am sure that Government Members would start to use terms such as “wrecking amendment”, and so on, and to talk about opening up the legislation far too widely.

Although we are not opposed to the spirit and the letter of the bulk of new Clause 50, it would be helpful, before this legislation goes any further, if the Minister gave a serious, detailed and clear explanation of what he means by the economic wellbeing of the United Kingdom, and a guarantee that this will not be used, potentially through misinterpretation, by those in the legal profession such that what the Minister wishes to achieve through this legislation could fall down and be found wanting.

The first thing to say is that the new Clause came at the request of the security services, so it is not a whim on the Department’s part, and it applies specifically to the offence under clause 103 of providing false information. It would be rather rash of me to start talking about situations in which that might apply. I understand the hon. Member’s point about the wider economic test being quite broad, but as my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield said, that is the established test in legislation. Given that we are talking about a defence to a specific offence under clause 103, I would suggest that the chance of this being frequently used, or indeed misused, is extremely remote, although as I say, it would be improper for me to speculate on the circumstances in which it might be used, given the sensitivities around the proposals.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 102 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 103 and 104 ordered to stand part of the Bill.