Welfare Reform Bill

The noble Lord referred to the criticism by the JCHR. I emphasise that the effect of Clause 15(7) is that anything done by a contractor on conditionality functions is treated as done by the Secretary of State for the purposes of the Human Rights Act; there are few exceptions to this. The Secretary of State consequently remains responsible for ensuring that these functions are carried out in manner compatible with the Human Rights Act. I am conscious of what the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, says—that we will be returning to this at a later stage—but I have been as clear as I can.