Welfare Reform Bill

It is very much to cover the circumstances that the noble Baroness identified. If somebody has come into Jobcentre Plus, been asked about drug dependency and has answered that they have none, but the flows of information from the police suggest otherwise, having that information available to Jobcentre Plus is quite important. This is particularly true for the category of people I have just described, who do not turn up for the assessment. It enables the assessment to be undertaken or mandated, and potentially opens up the gateway to the programme of support that is available. That would be the nature of the flow for somebody who has come in and lied about drug dependency. I can understand that people are concerned about it. This would be a supplementary source of information that could identify potential problems. Shortly I will perhaps have a more precise answer to that and the question of why, if we did not have that gateway, it would preclude the question leading to the assessment. That is the thinking behind those flows. The Bill is quite clear about what that information can be used for. Paragraph 5(3) states: ""Regulations under this paragraph may, in particular, authorise information supplied to a person under the regulations—""(a) to be used for the purpose of amending or supplementing or supplementing other information held by that person"." That is the thrust of that information.