Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)

My Lords, your Lordships are speedy and my Chief Whip is confused, but I appreciate the opportunity to discuss some important issues and to put on the record things that I hope will reassure noble Lords. Before I move to the substance of the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, I will respond to the question posed by the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer. I have not met StepChange, but that is an interesting suggestion. We have engaged with wider stakeholders. With regard to how the PSFA will be using the PACE powers that we request, that is in the next group of amendments so we will discuss those in more detail then, if that is okay. I will revert, and I will ensure that I have a meeting with StepChange before we progress such conversations. The people behind me are nodding at me. As this group of amendments addresses three distinct areas of concern, I will take those in turn. I will start with the recruitment of authorised investigators. Under Amendment 17, the Minister would have to prepare and publish guidance on the process by which authorised investigators were appointed within six months of the Bill coming into force. We do not believe that the amendment is necessary. The PSFA is bound by well-established Civil Service recruitment principles under- pinned by relevant legislative provisions. All recruitment to the role of authorised investigator will be based on merit via fair and open competition. Clause 7(3) of the Bill states that an individual can become an authorised investigator only if they have been authorised by the Minister to exercise the PACE powers conferred in the Bill. The Minister will not make such a determination unless they are content with the evidence provided to them demonstrating that the candidate has been suitably trained in the use of PACE powers and is ready to take on the responsibility of utilising them safely. All authorised investigators will receive bespoke training that will cover all aspects of investigative practice, including the relevant PACE powers. Training will be to the same standard as other law enforcement bodies that use PACE powers. Authorised investigators will work to clear operational guidance to ensure that they are delivering the use of the powers in a lawful and transparent way. They will also become members of the government counterfraud profession, and their training will align with the profession’s investigator standard. Existing investigators within the PSFA’s enforcement unit, who will work to become the PSFA’s first authorised investigators, bring with them a wealth of relevant knowledge, skills and experience from previous roles in both the police and investigation services within government departments. These powers will be in safe hands. I hope noble Lords find that reassuring. The disposal of property is incredibly important. On the face of it, the purpose of Amendment 18 is to remove the provision of the PSFA to make any changes to the relevant property that the court considers necessary for the purposes of avoiding or reducing any risk of the property being used in the commission of an offence. Noble Lords have indicated in the explanatory statement for the amendment that they wish to probe “the Government’s expectations of what types of changes to seized property may be deemed necessary by the courts”.