Part of Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:30 pm on 11 March 2025.
Mike Wood
Opposition Whip (Commons), Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office)
2:30,
11 March 2025
Perhaps the Minister can correct me if I have misunderstood, as the drafting obviously relates to the parallel provisions we debated in Clause 22. My understanding is that, as currently drafted, if the Minister or the Public Sector Fraud Authority is satisfied that a loss is the result of fraud, they can impose a lump sum deduction up to 100% of the credited amount in an account. However, if they were to use a regular deduction order, each sum can be only 40%. Is there any reason, in principle or for welfare, why it is okay to take 100% of someone’s account on day one but not okay to take 50% today and 50% the following month?
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