Welfare Reform Bill

moved Amendment No. 108A: 108A: Clause 40 , page 33, line 16, leave out ““any prescribed purpose which relates”” and insert ““anything which is done in relation”” The noble Baroness said: Government Amendments Nos. 108A and 108B address concerns raised by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights on one aspect of Clause 40, which deals with the use of social security information. One area where the Government are keen to make further progress is encouraging more people to claim the social security benefits to which they may be entitled. In doing so, we want to make the most of the social security information that local and national government agencies collect and hold. Currently, DWP can use any social security information it holds to promote the take-up of any benefit, but local authorities administering housing benefit and council tax benefit can use information only to promote the take-up of those two benefits. Among other things, Clause 40 aims to enable local authorities, which through this clause now includes English county councils, to use the social security information that they hold to promote the take-up of a range of benefits, including those administered by DWP and which are to be specified in regulations, the draft of which will be available to the House. This would be achieved by the insertion of a new Section 7B into the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which was originally worded to enable the prescription of benefit take-up activity through regulations. The Joint Committee on Human Rights felt that the original wording was too wide and would enable other unspecified purposes to be prescribed. The Delegated Powers Committee considered that if the clause were not amended then regulations made under it should be subject to the Affirmative procedure. The Government are happy to accept that changes should be made and to make it explicit that the powers in subsections (1) and (3) of new Section 7B are to be used solely to encourage people to claim the benefits to which they may be entitled. We touched on the importance of that earlier. The clause is an integral part of the Government's plans to secure improvements in the service that public authorities can offer their customers, a greater take-up of benefits and a more streamlined administration. In the light of the above, I move the amendment, and commend Clause 40.