Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)

I shall begin where I left off. I was responding to Amendments 12, 13 and 14. It is necessary that an appropriate period is provided for a first or third party to request a review of an information notice. That is why we introduced the seven-day period for information holders to request a review. This ensures that those attempting to hold up an investigation by requesting a review for no necessary or legitimate reason do not hold it up for an extensive period. If all safeguards were fully utilised as outlined across the Bill, it could already result in delays to the investigation of two years or more, potentially enabling continuing activities that defraud public authorities in that time. We are seeking to make every effort to balance appropriate safeguarding with effectiveness and protecting the public purse. Extending this period to 28 days would add an unnecessary delay in the investigative process. Amendment 14 would have no material effect over and above what has already been drafted as, in the event that the notice is upheld or varied, details will be provided to the information holder in order to inform their next steps, should they continue to not comply. On Amendments 15 and 16, while I am sympathetic to the intent of the amendments tabled, we believe them to be unnecessary. It is vital that any data-sharing powers between public authorities are done in a way that is relevant and effective for an investigation. An example of this would be sharing information with the public authority that has been defrauded or with the Serious Fraud Office. Imposing a prescriptive list of persons—who could regularly change—who can have information disclosed to them will restrict the intent and scope of the Bill. The clause details that information can be disclosed only for the purpose of exercising the core functions of the Minister, which already restricts to whom and for what purpose the information can be disclosed. The Bill already contains safeguards to ensure that all data processing, including data-sharing, must be done in accordance with current data protection legislation, which is why I hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, is prepared to withdraw her amendment.