Paragraph 3 Requirement for banks to provide informationF1

(1)

Before the Secretary of State makes a direct deduction order in respect of a liable person’s account, the Secretary of State must obtain and consider bank statements for the account covering a period of at least 3 months.

(2)

To obtain the statements, the Secretary of State must give the bank with which the Secretary of State believes the liable person holds the account a notice (an “account information notice”) requiring the bank to give the Secretary of State statements for the account covering—

(a)

the 3 months immediately before the notice is given, or

(b)

such longer period, ending immediately before the notice is given, as may be specified in the notice.

(3)

An account information notice must—

(a)

contain the name of the liable person, and

(b)

identify the account (for example, by number and sort code).

(4)

The Secretary of State may give an account information notice relating to an account only for the purpose of determining whether to make a direct deduction order in respect of the account.

(5)

At any time, for the purposes of determining whether to make a direct deduction order in relation to a liable person, the Secretary of State may give a notice (a “general information notice”) to a bank requiring the bank to—

(a)

identify every account that the liable person holds with the bank,

(b)

for each identified account, give the Secretary of State the following information—

(i)

a description of the type of account,

(ii)

identifiers for the account,

(iii)

if the account is a sole account, the balance of the account at the date that it is identified, and

(iv)

if the account is a joint account, the name of each other account holder, and

(c)

give the Secretary of State—

(i)

the correspondence address that the bank holds for the liable person, and

(ii)

in the case of a joint account, the correspondence address that the bank holds for each other account holder.

(6)

The Secretary of State may give—

(a)

more than one account information notice, or general information notice, in relation to the same recoverable amount;

(b)

more than one account information notice in respect of the same account.

(7)

A notice under this paragraph must—

(a)

set out how and when the bank must comply with the notice, and

(b)

explain that the bank may be liable to a penalty under paragraph 20 if it fails to do so without reasonable excuse.

(8)

The bank must comply with a notice given under this paragraph.

(9)

Subject to sub-paragraph (10), a bank that is given an account information notice, or a general information notice, must not notify any of the following people that the notice has been given—

(a)

the liable person;

(b)

any other holder of the account in respect of which an account information notice is given;

(c)

any other holder of an account identified in accordance with a general information notice.

(10)

The prohibition in sub-paragraph (9) ceases to apply—

(a)

at the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which the account information notice or general information notice is given to the bank, or

(b)

if earlier, when the bank is given a notice under paragraph 5(1).

(11)

Information given to the Secretary of State in response to a notice under this paragraph may be used by the Secretary of State for purposes connected with the Secretary of State’s functions under this Part of this Act, but not for any other purpose.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Sch. 3ZA inserted (2.12.2025 but only for the purposes of making regulations, 24.6.2026 in so far as not already in force) by Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 (c. 28), s. 109(2)(b), Sch. 5 (with s. 105); S.I. 2026/601, reg. 2(1)(g)