Baroness Finn (Con)

My Lords, the amendments in this group all relate to the duties placed on banks and other financial institutions in connection with debt recovery and information notices. Broadly speaking, the amendments represent a constructive and welcome set of clarifications from the Government. They respond directly to a number of issues raised in Committee about transparency, fairness and proportionality in the way that these powers are exercised. On the Government’s amendments limiting the period during which a bank is prohibited from informing an account holder that it has received an information notice, we on these Benches see that as a largely sensible change. The amendment means that after three months or sooner, if a further notice is received under Section 21, the prohibition on informing the account holder will lapse. That is an improvement. It ensures that investigations cannot drift indefinitely in silence, while still protecting the integrity of live inquiries. However, we would welcome confirmation from the Minister that when no action has been taken within that period then the department considers the case effectively closed or dormant. If a person is made aware that an information notice has been issued in respect of their account and they were in fact involved in some sort of fraud, then being made aware of this fact would compromise an investigation if it was ongoing, as that person could take action to avoid scrutiny. If the Minister could therefore clarify for us that, after this three-month period, a live investigation would not be affected through the sharing of this information then we would be content with this proposal. I turn to the Government’s amendments removing the requirement for banks to prevent an account being closed outright where a deduction order has been made. This achieves the same policy outcome as the original drafting, ensuring that sufficient funds remain available for recovery, but it does so in a more proportionate and administratively practical way. The bank will still have to preserve the specified sum, but without being forced into the position of acting as an involuntary custodian for the rest of the customer’s affairs. That strikes the right balance between protecting public money and minimising unnecessary interference in personal banking arrangements. We warmly welcome the amendment addressing suspended direct deduction orders. This is one that we pressed strongly in Committee, and we are very pleased that the Government have responded and taken us up on our suggestion, which was also supported by many other noble Lords, such as the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, and the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley. As drafted originally, the Bill would have allowed an order to be suspended indefinitely, potentially leaving someone in limbo for years, uncertain whether it would ever be reactivated. That was clearly unsatisfactory. The new provision rightly ensures that, if an order has been suspended for more than two years, it must be treated as revoked and all relevant parties notified. That is a fair and proportionate solution that restores clarity and finality for the individual concerned.