We're hearing reports of -

We are being told that forms have been changed, or that additional forms are now “required”, because of the recent MONEYVAL inspection. We are also told that departmental “policies” have been altered to reflect this.

However, it appears that no legislation has changed.

This raises a serious concern. Without any change in law, government departments appear able to alter policies, introduce additional forms, and require new information that was not required only six months ago.

The overwhelming concern is that departments are overreaching their role, effectively acting as law-makers by default through internal policies, rather than through legislation approved by elected representatives.

In a democracy, the public should be governed by laws passed by their elected representatives, not by policies created within departments.