Speeches by Madders.

“I beg to move amendment 190, in schedule 6, page 144, line 10, at end insert— “Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 92B In Part 2 of Schedule 3 to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (extraction of information from electronic devices: authorised persons in relation to all purposes within section …”

“Opposition Members raise the same point as before about why we have had to introduce this amendment now. I refer the shadow Minister to my previous comments on that matter; no doubt I may do so again. Both Opposition Members have rightly raised the concern about ensuring continuity when the body is instigated. Clearly,…”

“I believe I have already addressed the concerns raised by the hon. Member for Bridgwater on several occasions this morning, although I take his points. Amendment 203 agreed to.”

“I sense that the Opposition Members are supportive of the amendments. The shadow Minister challenged me on whether there will be any more minor or consequential amendments. I cannot give him an absolute guarantee on that; it is always an iterative process when Bills are issued; we take notice of what stakeholders say i…”

“The shadow Minister and the hon. Member for Bridgwater asked me the “how long is a piece of string?” question—that is, how often the powers will be used. The best thing I can do is to come back to both of them with how often they have been used in recent times because, of course, there is an existing power with the Gan…”

“The amendments make essential adjustments to the Employment Rights Bill ensuring that there is a process for appropriate oversight of police powers used by officers within the fair work agency. There will be a subsection of enforcement officers within the fair work agency who will be able to use police powers under the…”

“I beg to move amendment 185, in schedule 6, page 141, line 33, leave out from “2025)” to end of line 2 on page 142 and insert “acting in the exercise of functions conferred on them by virtue of section 114B of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984;”;”. This amendment is consequential on amendment 186.”

“Part 5 of the Bill lays the groundwork for the creation of the fair work agency. It involves abolishing the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, and transferring their functions to the Secretary of State. Schedule 6 sets out consequential amendments that we are making to…”

“I beg to move amendment 183, in schedule 6, page 135, line 6, leave out “‘Secretary of State’.” and insert “‘Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority or the Secretary of State’.” This amendment would ensure that section 12(2) of the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, which makes it an offence for a person to be in possess…”

“As I said, if there is not agreement, the provisions in clauses 78, 79 and 83, which we debated last week, will come into play. On the existing framework, the powers that we have set out are already in use. The Bill will make them available to all enforcement officers. They will be used only by people who have sufficie…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Registrar (Identity Verification and Authorised Corporate Service Providers) Regulations 2024.”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Stringer. The registrar regulations were laid before the House in draft on 22 May 2024, and the unique identifiers regulations were laid before the House in draft on 31 October 2024. They form part of a programme to implement the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act…”

“I am pleased to hear that the shadow Minister has already started using the acronym ACSP, which is very encouraging—I am sure it will enter the vernacular shortly. In terms of the cost to businesses of individual identity verification, it will be free to businesses to log in. It is estimated that on average it will cos…”

“I think there is broad support for these clauses. The shadow Minister requests that I commit to an oral statement, but he will be aware that I am not in control of the business of the House. I hope that we would want to ensure that all Members have the opportunity to ask questions, but he will know that a number of oth…”

“The shadow Minister makes a reasonable point. Of course, this will all be subject to data protection legislation and the safeguards contained therein. It is also the case that, if the Secretary of State wishes to expand the list of bodies with which information is shared, there is a requirement to amend that list by wa…”

“On clause 98, regulators and enforcement agencies must be able to work together effectively to share information and pool knowledge. For example, if the fair work agency identifies issues with health and safety in the course of its investigations, it should be able to let the Health and Safety Executive know, and vice …”

“Clause 97 provides for another standard safeguard in our legal system: protection against self-incrimination in criminal legal proceedings. The fair work agency has investigatory powers that enable the Secretary of State and the enforcement officers they appoint to require the production of documents and information to…”

“The clause provides a safeguard to ensure the protection of any document or information that is subject to legal professional privilege. Such documents or information do not have to be provided in response to any enforcement action by the fair work agency. As Members will know, legal professional privilege is a well-es…”

“Enforcement officers need the powers to do their jobs effectively, and that is what we are providing through the Bill. Clause 95 introduces a key safeguard around carrying out the enforcement functions in part 5 of the Bill. It applies to any person proposing to carry out an enforcement function of the Secretary of Sta…”

“Let me deal first with the usual concern raised by the shadow Minister about why we have had to table an amendment. He has probably noticed that schedule 6 contains a considerable amount of other legislation. It is not that unexpected that not every piece of legislation affected by the Bill would be covered—that is rea…”