Member

Amendments 8 and 9 from my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) would reduce the effectiveness of the proposed debt powers within the Bill. The Department can already apply to the court for a third party debt order, and a key reason for introducing the direct deduction order is to recover more public money without unnecessarily using the court’s time. It is also highly unlikely that debtors who have repeatedly refused to engage with the Department and repay voluntarily will suddenly agree to recovery taking place directly from their bank accounts.