Lord Frost (Non-Afl)

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 135 and 436 in my name. These two amendments relate to one of the specific functions just elaborated by the noble Lord, Lord Moylan. Amendment 135 would create in Clause 4 a specific duty on the commissioner of ensuring that paperwork relating to individual cases is in order and of the right quality so that the process can proceed. As the amendment puts it, the paperwork should be “present, complete and of sufficient standard”. Amendment 436 would create in Clause 16 an elaboration of what that duty means in practice: that is, to request further and improved paperwork if it is not in order and, in particular, if any doubt exists over whether eligibility criteria are met. Why are these amendments necessary? It is a very specific issue, clearly, but the commissioner has a function, inter alia, to receive documents, refer cases and so on, which is obviously crucial to the working of this process. As described, that function implicitly includes ensuring that the documentation is in order, but that is not made explicit anywhere in the Bill. The purpose of the amendments is to make that requirement explicit, and to create a clear legal duty on the commissioner to ensure that the paperwork is of a sufficient standard.