Legislation – Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025

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Part 3General

105Application and limitation

(1)

Subject to subsection (2), any function conferred by a provision of this Act (including by way of amendments to another enactment) is exercisable—

(a)

so far as the function relates to investigations or enforcement, in respect of things done or not done before the provision comes into force, and

(b)

so far as the function relates to the recovery of money, for the purposes of recovering money which a public authority (whether or not the public authority on which the function is conferred) was entitled to recover before the provision comes into force.

(2)

Subsection (1)(a) does not apply in relation to the amendments made by—

(a)

section 101 (offences: non-benefit payments), and

(b)

section 102 (penalty as alternative to prosecution: extension to non-benefit payments).

(3)

Subsection (4) applies in relation to an action—

(a)

for an amount that a relevant public authority is entitled to claim from a person as a result of fraud which the person carried out, before the day on which this section comes into force, in connection with coronavirus, and

(b)

in relation to which a limitation period of less than 12 years from the date on which the cause of action accrues would otherwise have applied.

(4)

The time limit for bringing the action is 12 years beginning with the day on which the relevant public authority discovers the fraud or could with reasonable diligence discover it (whether that day is before, on or after the day on which this section comes into force).

(5)

For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4)—

(a)

a “relevant public authority” is a person who—

(i)

exercises functions of a public nature, and

(ii)

is not a devolved Scottish authority;

(b)

an authority is a “devolved Scottish authority” if its functions—

(i)

are exercisable only in or as regards Scotland, and

(ii)

are wholly or mainly functions that do not relate to reserved matters within the meaning of the Scotland Act 1998.

(6)

For the purposes of subsection (3), “coronavirus” has the meaning given by section 1(1) of the Coronavirus Act 2020.

(7)

In the Limitation Act 1980, in section 38 (interpretation), in subsection (11)—

(a)

in paragraph (a), after “1992,” insert “including as amended by the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025,”,

(b)

omit “or” at the end of paragraph (b), and

(c)

at the end of paragraph (c) insert “, or

(d)

Part 1 of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025,”.

(8)

In the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, in Schedule 1 (obligations affected by prescriptive periods of 5 years under section 6), in paragraph 2(fb)(i), at the end insert “, including as amended by the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025”.