Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill Report Stage: New Clause 1

Parliament voted on 29 April 2025 on whether to add New Clause 1 to the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill during its Report Stage. The clause would have introduced stronger oversight mechanisms or safeguards over the government's fraud recovery powers. The motion was defeated by 255 votes to 73, with a substantial number of MPs absent from the division.

The vote matters because it determines how much independent scrutiny will be placed on the government's powers to identify and recover fraudulent or erroneous payments from public authorities. By defeating the new clause, the House of Commons rejected additional constraints on those powers, leaving the government with broader executive discretion in how it pursues fraud recovery. The outcome affects members of the public who may be subject to those recovery powers, as well as civil liberties considerations around the checks placed on government action.

The division followed clear party lines. Labour MPs, including those sitting under the Labour and Co-operative Party label, voted almost unanimously against the clause, providing the bulk of the 255 noes. The Liberal Democrats led the opposition to this position, supplying 46 of the 73 aye votes, with further support from Independents, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Green Party, and single votes from Your Party and Reform UK. One Labour MP broke with the government to vote aye. This division was one of several on the same day in which opposition parties sought unsuccessfully to amend the Bill, with comparable defeats recorded on Amendment 11 and New Clauses 10 and 21, all at Report Stage.