HOUSE OF LORDS

Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

16th Report of Session 2015‒16

Draft Welfare Reform () Order 2015

Includes 3 Information Paragraphs on 3 Instruments

Ordered to be printed 1 December 2015 and published 2 December 2015

Published by the Authority of the House of Lords

HL Paper 63

Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (formerly Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee) Historical Note In January 2000, the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords said that there was a good case for enhanced Parliamentary scrutiny of secondary legislation and recommended establishing a “sifting” mechanism to identify those statutory instruments which merited further debate or consideration. The Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee was set up on 17 December 2003. At the start of the 2012–13 Session the Committee was renamed to reflect the widening of its responsibilities to include the scrutiny of Orders laid under the Public Bodies Act 2011. The Committee has the following terms of reference: (1) The Committee shall, with the exception of those instruments in paragraphs (3) and (4), scrutinise— (a) every instrument (whether or not a statutory instrument), or draft of an instrument, which is laid before each House of Parliament and upon which proceedings may be, or might have been, taken in either House of Parliament under an ; (b) every proposal which is in the form of a draft of such an instrument and is laid before each House of Parliament under an Act of Parliament, with a view to determining whether or not the special attention of the House should be drawn to it on any of the grounds specified in paragraph (2). (2) The grounds on which an instrument, draft or proposal may be drawn to the special attention of the House are— (a) that it is politically or legally important or gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House; (b) that it may be inappropriate in view of changed circumstances since the enactment of the parent Act; (c) that it may inappropriately implement European Union legislation; (d) that it may imperfectly achieve its policy objectives; (e) that the explanatory material laid in support provides insufficient information to gain a clear understanding about the instrument’s policy objective and intended implementation; (f) that there appear to be inadequacies in the consultation process which relates to the instrument. (3) The exceptions are— (a) remedial orders, and draft remedial orders, under section 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998; (b) draft orders under sections 14 and 18 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, and subordinate provisions orders made or proposed to be made under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001; (c) Measures under the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 and instruments made, and drafts of instruments to be made, under them. (4) The Committee shall report on draft orders and documents laid before Parliament under section 11(1) of the Public Bodies Act 2011 in accordance with the procedures set out in sections 11(5) and (6). The Committee may also consider and report on any material changes in a draft order laid under section 11(8) of the Act. (5) The Committee shall also consider such other general matters relating to the effective scrutiny of secondary legislation and arising from the performance of its functions under paragraphs (1) to (4) as the Committee considers appropriate, except matters within the orders of reference of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Members Baroness Andrews Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbots Baroness Stern Lord Bowness Baroness Humphreys Rt Hon. Lord Trefgarne (Chairman) Lord Goddard of Stockport Rt Hon. Lord Janvrin Lord Woolmer of Leeds Lord Haskel Baroness O’Loan Registered interests Information about interests of Committee Members can be found in Appendix 3. Publications The Committee’s Reports are published on the internet at www.parliament.uk/seclegpublications Information and Contacts If you have a query about the Committee’s work, or opinions on any new item of secondary legislation, please contact the Clerk of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, Legislation Office, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW; telephone 020–7219 8821; fax 020–7219 2571; email [email protected]. Statutory instruments The National Archives publishes statutory instruments on the internet at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/, together with a plain English explanatory memorandum.

Sixteenth Report

INSTRUMENTS DRAWN TO THE SPECIAL ATTENTION OF THE HOUSE

Draft Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015

Date laid: 26 November 2015

Parliamentary procedure: affirmative Summary: This Order makes provision for Northern Ireland broadly equivalent to the 2012 which, among other things, introduced the Universal Credit system. It includes some variations specific to Northern Ireland including certain top-up powers and a different sanction regime (as agreed as part of the Stormont House Agreement). It mainly contains powers to enable “catch up”, for example, it does not introduce Universal Credit immediately but gives the Northern Ireland Department for Social Development (in most cases) power to introduce the system on dates that they will set by regulations made under this Order. The Northern Ireland Executive will establish a small working group under the leadership of Professor Eileen Evason to bring forward proposals. Further information is included in the document A Fresh Start: The Stormont House Agreement and Implementation Plan, published on 17 November 2015. This Order is drawn to the special attention of the House on the ground that it gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House. 1. This Order is laid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under section 1 of the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Act 2015, it is accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum (EM) which refers to the Impact Assessment to the original bill. In its 14th Report1 the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee commented on the extent and level of scrutiny of sub-delegated powers in the draft and this Committee shares that concern. Background 2. The Order makes provision for Northern Ireland that is broadly equivalent to the Welfare Reform 2012 Act which, among other things, introduced the Universal Credit system. It includes some variations specific to Northern Ireland including certain top-up powers and a different sanction regime (as agreed as part of the Stormont House Agreement). It is normal for there to be a compatible social security system throughout the but the Welfare Reform Bill introduced in the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2012 was not passed following a Petition of Concern in May 2015: this has led to some dislocation. The Northern Ireland Assembly agreed on 18 November 2015 that the Government should legislate on this devolved issue in order to implement welfare reform in Northern Ireland.

1 14th Report of the Delegated Powers Committee, session 2015–16 (HL Paper 58).

4 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

3. The Order allows the introduction of Universal Credit, modification of the provisions of Jobseekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance, in particular by enhancing the claimant commitment and work- related requirements, and the simplification of industrial injuries schemes. The Order also amends the provision of discretionary payments, allows the introduction of Personal Independence Payments (PIP), improves the collection of child support, establishes the benefit cap, strengthens sanctions for non-compliance with requirements or for fraud, enhances the exchange of information between agencies and enables the use of electronic communication in claims. 4. The table in Appendix 1 to this Report shows the main differences between this Order and the 2012 Act. Anticipated Impact 5. The benefits system in Northern Ireland has broadly continued to follow the system in force in 2012. As well as diverging from the system applied elsewhere in the UK, continuing with the former system has been expensive for the Northern Ireland Executive, with savings forgone to the Treasury of £2 million a week. 6. A number of briefings are published on the Northern Ireland Department for Social Development’s (DSD) website analysing the impact of the changes.2 Savings will come from:

 the introduction of a cap limiting annual benefits to a maximum of £26,000 which is expected to save £1.36 million a year,

 the limitation of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to one year, which is expected to save £41 million a year, and

 the introduction of an under-occupancy limit to Housing Benefit. Stronger sanctions are also expected to reduce the amount lost to fraud although these penalties will not exactly mirror the current levels in the UK. The introduction of Universal Credit will also save money though it will be rolled out gradually and will not be fully implemented until 2024–25. Legislation will also prevent illegal workers qualifying for contributory benefits and payments. 7. Other measures, such as changing the conditionality for Lone Parent benefit to take effect when the youngest child is five years old (rather than seven) and moving from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP, are designed to encourage claimants back into work rather than to become dependent on benefits. DLA is a particular issue in Northern Ireland where over 200,000 people are now receiving it, that is just over 1:10 of the population, which is twice as many as in Great Britain where the ratio is 1:20. It is estimated that, following testing under the PIP assessment criteria, about 25% of current DLA claimants will no longer qualify for benefit. Over the next 12 months about 16,700 DLA claimants will be reassessed under the PIP criteria and, as a result, expenditure is expected to reduce by about £21 million annually.

2 https://www.dsdni.gov.uk/topics/benefits-and-pensions-dsd-statistics-and-research/welfare-changes- briefing.

SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 5

Implementation 8. The Order includes powers to enable “catch up”, for example, it does not introduce Universal Credit immediately but gives the Northern Ireland DSD (in most cases) the powers to introduce the system on dates that they will set out in further regulations made under the Order. 9. Firm plans have not yet been published for the implementation of these changes. DWP and the Social Security Agency in Northern Ireland will continue to discuss with the Northern Ireland Executive how, in practice, the latest Stormont House Agreement will work. Broadly, Whitehall can produce almost all of the Social Security regulations flowing from the Order but the Northern Ireland Assembly will have responsibility for the ‘mitigation’ schemes agreed to as part of the Stormont House Agreement. It will be crucial that, with regulations coming from two sources, provisions are carefully coordinated before introduction. Should the Northern Ireland Assembly reach a position where it can progress the legislation itself, Article 3 of the Order allows for the Secretary of State, by order, to end the current arrangement. 10. Under the Stormont House Agreement, a panel of experts will be convened to design mitigation measures–the relevant extract from “A Fresh Start”3 is set out below: “Executive Welfare and Tax Credits Enhancements 1.1 The Executive has agreed to allocate a total of £585 million from Executive funds over four years to ‘top-up’ the UK welfare arrangements in NI with a review in 2018–19. This sum incorporates the present discretionary fund.

Year 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Agreed Amount £135m £150m £150m £150m Welfare £75m £90m £90m £90m

Tax Credits £60m £60m £60m £60m

1.2 The Executive will establish a small working group under the leadership of Professor Eileen Evason to bring forward proposals within this financial envelope (including administrative costs) to maximise the use of these additional resources. 1.4 The Executive has agreed to implement the findings of the working group within the financial envelope available.”

3 A Fresh Start The Stormont House Agreement and Implementation Plan, published 17 November 2015.

6 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

INSTRUMENTS OF INTEREST

Draft Disclosure of Exporter Information Regulations 2015 11. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has laid these draft Regulations with an Explanatory Memorandum (EM) which explains that there has been an increase in demand from the public and private sectors for access to export information held by HMRC, in order to help efforts to boost exports. While HMRC has hitherto not been allowed to share this information, the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 now provides it with a power to make these Regulations, which authorise the disclosure of specified data in relation to the exports of goods. HMRC says that the Regulations specify the categories of information that may be disclosed, which is limited to less sensitive but nonetheless useful information. These are: business name and address; commodity code; description of the commodity code covering the goods; and the month and year of export. 12. In the EM, HMRC provides some details of the consultation on these proposals which ran from 25 June to 19 September 2014. We obtained further information from HMRC, including about concerns over confidentiality, which we are publishing at Appendix 2.

Draft Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 13. HM Treasury (HMT) has laid these draft Regulations with an Explanatory Memorandum (EM), Transposition Note and Impact Assessment. They implement the EU Payments Account Directive (PAD) concerning banking which has three main policy objectives: to improve the transparency of fees relating to accounts that are principally personal current accounts; to make it easier for consumers to switch accounts; and to ensure that all EU consumers can access banking services by ensuring that a sufficient number of accounts with basic features are available. HMT states that, in the UK, a number of relevant initiatives were already underway before agreement of PAD, including the launch in September 2013 of the Current Account Switch Service (“CASS”), a free-to-use service for consumers intended to make the process of switching payment accounts simpler and more reliable. It adds that it sought to ensure that the provisions of PAD aligned with existing UK practice as far as possible; and that this approach has been maintained for the implementation of PAD. In particular, the provision in the PAD which allows Member States to establish or maintain an alternative switching service to the regime set out in the Directive has meant that CASS can continue to offer its service to consumers. 14. HMT consulted on its implementation proposals for six weeks from June 2014 and received 13 responses. It is clear from the EM and the published summary of consultation responses that most respondents were content with the general approach: particular concerns are identified in section 8 of the EM.

SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 7

Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1911) 15. HM Treasury (HMT) has laid these Regulations with an Explanatory Memorandum (EM) and Impact Assessment (IA). The Regulations implement the EU Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR)4 which caps interchange fees for card payments in the EU. Such fees are set centrally by card schemes and are paid by the merchant’s bank to the customer’s bank as a percentage of each transaction made by the debit or credit cardholder. The fees are then passed on directly to the merchant by its bank. In the IA, HMT says that the Government consider that the IFR will mean large savings for UK businesses, and that the British Retail Consortium has estimated that the price cap could benefit UK retailers by £480 million each year. HMT adds that it is not unreasonable to assume that merchants will pass these savings on to consumers in the form of lower priced goods and services, in order to remain competitive. It refers to an ongoing study of the IFR’s impact by the Payment Systems Regulator, due to report in April 2016: this may lead to re- consideration of interchange fee rates. 16. HM Treasury consulted on its proposals for capping fees for transactions either by credit card or by debit card, and for the regulatory regime, over a five-week period from 27 July 2015. 38 responses were received; there were mixed views over the proposed approach to debit card fees, but general support for the other proposals.5 Holding a consultation over the summer holiday period is not obviously conducive to a good response. However, HMT states in the EM that key stakeholders were aware of the IFR’s requirements; the formal consultation followed lengthy, informal engagement with stakeholders during negotiation of the IFR. The IFR was adopted in April 2015 and set a deadline of December for the fee caps to come into effect.

4 Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions. 5 HMT has published a summary of consultation responses: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/interchange-fee-regulation.

8 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

INSTRUMENTS NOT DRAWN TO THE SPECIAL ATTENTION OF THE HOUSE The Committee has considered the instruments set out below and has determined that the special attention of the House need not be drawn to them.

Draft instruments subject to affirmative approval Disclosure of Exporter Information Regulations 2015 General Dental Council (Fitness to Practise etc.) Order 2015 Legal Services Act 2007 (Claims Management Complaints) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 Modern Slavery Act 2015 (Consequential Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2015 Payment Accounts Regulations 2015

Instruments subject to annulment SI 2015/1881 Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 5) Rules 2015 SI 2015/1897 Transfer of Functions (Information and Public Records) Order 2015 SI 2015/1906 General Osteopathic Council (Constitution) (Amendment) Order 2015 SI 2015/1911 Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 SI 2015/1917 Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 9

MAIN AREAS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ORDER AND THE 2012 ACT

Additional information from the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland The Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 does not include an equivalent to the following sections of the Welfare Reform Act 2012: Welfare Reform Description Reason this was not included in Act 2012 Section the OiC 60: Claimants The Welfare Reform Act 2009 As equivalent provisions were never dependent on introduced provisions which replicated in Northern Ireland, there drugs etc allowed requirements to be is no need to repeal them. imposed on persons claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance/Employment and Support Allowance (JSA/ESA) who were dependent on, or likely to misuse, drugs or alcohol. Section 60 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (the WRA 2012) repeals these provisions. 76: Calculation of Section 76 makes modifications This extended to Northern Ireland so working tax credit to previous regulations so as to does not need to be included in the change the rate at which Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) working tax credit is withdrawn. Order 2015. 103 & Sched. 12: In 2008 the pre-existing appeals This clause has no relevance in Supersession of system in Great Britain was Northern Ireland because the social decisions of replaced by the First-Tier and security appeal bodies have not been former appellate Upper Tribunals. These replaced by the First-tier and Upper bodies provisions make amendments Tribunals as in Great Britain. reinstating powers to make decisions superseding decisions made by appeal bodies before their functions were transferred to the First-Tier and Upper Tribunals. 107: Recovery of Allows overpaid child benefit or Not required as the amendments child benefit and guardian’s allowance to be made by the WRA 2012 apply on a guardian’s recovered from future payments United Kingdom- wide basis allowance of those benefits. 109: Recovery of Gives retrospective effect to This amends a criminal justice fines etc by secondary legislation which provision on fines which has no deductions from allows deductions for fines from counterpart in Northern Ireland. employment and both income-related and support allowance contributory elements of ESA.

10 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

115: Period of Reduces the cooling-off period In Northern Ireland the cooling off withdrawal of following an agreement to pay a period remains at 28 days agreement to pay penalty to avoid prosecution, penalty from 28 days to 14 days. 116: Civil To provide for a civil penalty Not being introduced in Northern penalties for where claimants fail to disclose Ireland. incorrect information that would affect statements and benefit entitlement or the failures to disclose amount of benefit payable or information negligently provide incorrect information. 117: Benefit These amendments bring tax Tax credits are an excepted matter offences: credits within the sanctions (i.e. not devolved). As the clause disqualifying and regime in certain sections of the deals solely with tax credits and is not sanctionable Social Security Fraud Act 2001. ancillary to other provisions it would benefits In cases where claimants have be outside legislative competence to committed benefit offences, replicate this clause. Tax credits certain provisions of the 2001 should be dealt with under Act allow for specified benefits Westminster legislation. to be reduced or stopped for a time-limited period and these amendments add child tax credit and working tax credit to the benefits listed as a disqualifying and sanctionable benefits for the purposes of these provisions. 120: Loss of tax Inserts various loss of tax Provisions in the WRA 2012 already credits credits provisions into the Tax contain appropriate references Credits Act 2002 to allow a relating to Northern Ireland. more uniform imposition of penalties following convictions for benefits and tax credits fraud. 122: Tax credit This extends certain of the Tax credits are an excepted matter fraud: investigations provisions of the (i.e. not devolved). As the clause investigation Social Security Administration deals solely with tax credits and is not Act 1992 (the Administration ancillary to other provisions it would Act 1992) to the investigation be outside legislative competence to of tax credits claims. replicate this clause. Tax credits should be dealt with under Westminster legislation. 123: Information- This extends information Tax credits are an excepted matter sharing for sharing provisions in the (i.e. not devolved). As the clause prevention etc of Administration Act 1992 to deals solely with tax credits and is not tax credit fraud allow for the sharing of ancillary to other provisions it would information in connection with be outside legislative competence to the prevention, detection, replicate this clause. Tax credits investigation or prosecution of should be dealt with under offences relating to Tax Credits. Westminster legislation.

SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 11

124: Tax credit Amends the Tax Credits Act The provisions in the WRA 2012 fraud: prosecution 2002 to specify the already contain appropriate and penalties circumstances in which tax references to Northern Ireland. credit offences are be tried before magistrates or may be referred to the Crown Court.

125: This amends the Tax credits are an excepted matter. Unauthorised Administration Act 1992 to As the clause deals solely with tax disclosure of ensure that provisions in that credits and is not ancillary to other information Act relating to the unauthorised provisions it would be outside relating to tax disclosure of information by legislative competence to replicate credit offences officials involved in the this clause. Tax credits should be administration or adjudication dealt with under Westminster of social security matters also legislation. apply to the disclosure of tax credits information.

126: Tax credits: Removes statutory bar Most of the provisions of section 126 transfer of preventing certain functions of of the WRA 2012 extend UK-wide functions etc the HMRC Commissioners and already allow for the transfer of from being transferred to the tax credit functions in Northern Secretary of State, including Ireland and the consequential those relating to the payment amendment of Northern Irish and management of working tax legislation. credit and child tax credit. 127: Information- Provides for data related to The relevant powers in this section of sharing between HMRC functions, social the WRA 2012 extends to Northern Secretary of State security and certain other Ireland and HMRC matters to be shared between the Secretary of State or the Northern Ireland Department of Social Development and the HMRC Commissioners in certain circumstances. 128 & 129: These provisions enable the DSD already exchanges information Information- Secretary of State to share with DPP. GB were moving from sharing between social security and child support using “in-house” solicitors to crown Secretary of State information with the prosecution services so needed these and DPP Department of Public powers whereas in Northern Ireland Prosecutions, for certain the set-up did not change so the purposes related to proceedings powers are not required. they are dealing with and the exercise of their functions. They also impose restrictions on the disclosure of information shared under section 128.

12 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

135: Functions of Inserts functions relating to This provision amends the registration transmission of information to Registration Service Act 1953, which service the Secretary of State into only extends to England, Wales and Registration Services Act 1953. Scotland. A different system operates in Northern Ireland so equivalent provision is not required 141: Review of Amends the Child Maintenance This provision relates to Child fees regulations and Enforcement Act 2008 to Maintenance pilot – it is not require the Secretary of State to applicable for Northern Ireland to review, and publish a report as conduct a pilot. regards the effect of, the first set of regulations making provision about the exercise of his Child Maintenance enforcement functions. 143: Standards of Repeals section 81 of the Social Though this duty has been abolished decision-making Security Act 1998 which placed in Great Britain, Northern Ireland a duty on the Secretary of State are going to continue to produce this and the Child Maintenance and report, so an equivalent repeal Enforcement Commission to provision is not needed. report to Parliament on the standards achieved in making decisions which carried appeal rights to the First-tier Tribunal. 145 & Schedule Amends Child Poverty Act Northern Ireland does not have an 13: Social 2010 and related enactments to equivalent to the Social Mobility and Mobility and establish a Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission there are Child Poverty Child Poverty Commission no equivalent Northern Ireland Commission amendments to GB Schedule 13. 146: UK child Amends Child Poverty Act No equivalent in Northern Ireland poverty strategies 2010 to clarify the existing position that the requirements for a UK strategy can be met with a description of measures in narrative or policy terms. 148 & 149: Technical provisions which The financial provisions in section Financial specify the extent of the WRA 149 have UK-wide extent and the Provision & 2012 and detail the extent to Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Extent which monies spent in Order 2015 includes its own extent connection with the measures provision at Article 3. set out in the Act are to be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 13

The following sections of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 have additional or amended Articles not in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 These are Northern Ireland-specific and were agreed either as part of the Stormont House Agreement or during the passage of the NI Bill through the Assembly: Northern Ireland Order in Description Council Section 31, 52 and 55: Higher level Maximum period during which a sanction for sanctions failure to comply with specified work-related requirements may be applied is 18 months, as opposed to 3 years in Great Britain 85(3)(c): Ability to carry out Additional requirement to take account of daily living activities or mobility relevant medical evidence in assessing a activities person’s ability to carry out daily living or mobility activities.

125: Reports by Department Obligation to report on the standard of decision-making in relation to decisions which attract appeal rights, the standard of advice and assistance provided under Article 138 of the Order in Council and the operation of sanctions. 133: Reduced fee for dog Updates the Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order licences 1983 to include certain income-related benefits for the purposes of eligibility to reduced dog- licence fees. 134: Rate relief schemes: This amends Article 30A of the Rates application of housing benefit (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, which is an law existing enabling power that allows Department of Finance and Personnel to make whatever regulations are necessary to maintain support schemes for domestic ratepayers. This amendment will allow that power to be extended to make provision cover the replacement for the rates element of Housing Benefit.

135: Discretionary support These provisions allow for discretionary grants, loans, goods or services to be paid or provided by the Department of Social Development to prescribed persons 136: Discretionary support Replacement of social fund commissioner with Commissioner discretionary support Commissioner. 137: Payments to persons Mitigation schemes to be paid from block grant suffering financial disadvantage by the Department of Social Development to assist persons who have suffered financial disadvantage as a result of the reforms contained in the WRA 2012 and the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015.

14 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

138: Duty to ensure availability Duty for the Department of Social of advice and assistance Development to provide free advice and assistance to persons making a claim under the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015. 139: Duty to report on Duty for the Department of Social operation of this Order Development to report to the Northern Ireland Assembly on the operation of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 within 3 years after Order is made.

SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 15

DRAFT DISCLOSURE OF EXPORTER INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2015

Additional information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) A summary of responses to the 2014 consultation has been published.6 There were 15 responses: eight were in agreement with the principle of publication, provided sufficient safeguards were put in place; five opposed the principle, either because of personal objections to their own data being published due to the nature of their business, or because of a concern about getting unsolicited e-mail marketing as a result; two were ambivalent. Two measures will be put in place to address concerns over confidentiality. Firstly, any data which would identify three or less exporters in a given market (i.e. exporting the same goods) will be automatically suppressed prior to publication. Similarly, exports of goods of a sensitive strategic or defence nature are automatically suppressed. Secondly, exporters will be able to apply to “opt-out” of the publication arrangements by contacting HMRC. They will have to provide a valid reason for such exclusion. However, circumstances where the exporter is moving goods of a nature which might give rise to security concerns or adverse publicity will be dealt with sympathetically. This is in line with the arrangements currently in force covering the existing publication of importer’s details. These have been in place since 1988 and are working satisfactorily. HMRC has not contacted those who responded since the time of the consultation. However, HMRC is confident that the measures proposed to be taken to safeguard confidentiality are sensible, measured and proportionate, especially given there were concerns expressed that unlimited opt-out will devalue the information tool. 24 November 2015

6 See: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/sharing-and-publishing-export-data-for-public-benefit?1111.

16 SECONDARY LEGISLATION SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

INTERESTS AND ATTENDANCE Committee Members’ registered interests may be examined in the online Register of Lords’ Interests at www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldreg.htm. The Register may also be inspected in the Parliamentary Archives. For the business taken at the meeting on 1 December 2015 Peers declared the following interests:

Draft Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 Lord Janvrin Deputy Chairman, HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd

Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1911) Lord Hodsgon of Astley Abbots Chairman, Nova Capital Management

Non-executive Chairman, Cash Management Solutions Ltd and Cash Management Solutions payments intelligence Ltd (global outsourced cash management provider)

Attendance: The meeting was attended by Baroness Andrews, Lord Goddard of Stockport, Lord Haskel, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbots, Baroness Humphreys, Lord Janvrin, Baroness O’Loan, Baroness Stern, Lord Trefgarne and Lord Woolmer of Leeds.