Section 5: Investigations - Top up assistance
55.Section 5 makes provision, in subsection (6), to extend the power for Ministers to make provision in regulations, under what was previously section 75 of the 2018 Act about investigation of offences under that Act, so that provision may also be made about the investigation of offences under any regulations made under the Act. This ensures that investigations regulations can cover the investigation of any new offences created under section 79(2)(g) (inserted by section 3). Since section 75 of the 2018 Act was located in Part 2 of that Act, and the powers to make provision about top-up assistance are located in Part 3, the substantive provision described above necessitated some re-structuring of the 2018 Act.
56.Subsections (2) to (5) of section 5 therefore move the investigations provision previously found in section 75 of the 2018 Act to Part 4 of that Act, which contains provisions relevant to both Parts 2 and 3. Section 76, which makes provision for a code of practice on investigations under section 75 is similarly moved to Part 4. The title of Part 2, Chapter 6 of the 2018 Act is therefore modified to remove the wording ‘and investigations’, and the italic heading of ‘Offences’ which immediately precedes section 71 is also removed. Sections 75 and 76 are re-numbered as sections 84A and 84B.
57.Subsections (7) and (8) of section 5 of the Act make changes to sections 84B and 96(2) of the 2018 Act that are required in consequence of the amendments made by subsections (2) to (6). References to sections 75 and 76 are removed and replaced with references to those sections as re-numbered.
