Member

My noble friend asked what an affordable deduction is and whether we would consider agreeing an affordable and sustainable repayment plan before going for deduction orders. I can say a categorial yes to that. Our preference is always to agree an affordable and sustainable repayment plan. I remind the Committee that direct deduction orders are a matter of last resort and are used only for people who are not on benefits or PAYE and who the department has been unable to get to come to the table to discuss a repayment plan. These are people from whom we cannot recover benefits because they are not on benefits or PAYE, but we have established that there is a debt and that they can afford it but are choosing not to repay it. As we discussed at previous stages— I appreciate that my noble friend was involved in other Bills—we have already made at least four attempts to contact them and they simply will not engage at all. This is the only point at which we are using direct deduction orders.