Member

On the noble Viscount’s question about bank accounts and the eligibility verification measure, I will try to clarify that. The DWP can ask banks to send information on a bank account into which it pays benefits and any other linked accounts, which will include other accounts in that person’s name in that bank. What it will not do—just as his Government’s measure would not have been able to do, and for the same reason—is to get information from different banks. The reason for that is simple. As I have explained before, DWP can go to a bank into which it pays benefits and say, “This is the account to which we pay the benefits, give us some information such as the person’s name, date of birth, and the way in which they may have breached the eligibility requirement”. If it were to go to a completely different bank, it would have to give that bank data that it does not hold about individuals with whom it has no relationship, and that was felt not to be appropriate, which is why we have taken this route. I reassure him again that the DWP has access to a wide range of information sources, and where there is a suspicion of fraud, it can use its existing powers and information sources to pursue that.