Member

I hope that by outlining the process that we will be going through I have given some level of reassurance. I reassure noble Lords that every effort will be made to balance safeguarding throughout this process, making sure that appropriate and robust challenge has been incorporated into the Bill. We have done this through the prism of making sure that a vulnerability assessment is in place and that there is a balance between acting as a deterrent and regaining money that has been taken illegitimately from the public purse—so that we can retain it while also protecting individuals. The safeguarding that is in place, if it were to be utilised fully at every stop, could mean that this process would take up to two years before we started regaining any of the funds. The safeguards are there for a reason: we need to make sure that the balance is also there. I hope that this explanation reassures the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, and that she will therefore withdraw her amendment.