SPM80045 – Information Powers: Approving the Formal Information Notice

An authorised officer must approve Formal Information Notices, see SPM80005.

The authorised officer should check that:

• the person has refused to co-operate with an informal written request or has failed to produce some or all of that information within the time shown
• the person can be issued with a Formal Information Notice, see SPM80025
• all the information or documents needed to resolve the case have been included in the Formal Information Notice
• the person is given enough time to respond to the Formal Information Notice, see SPM80040.

They should also consider the rights of privacy under HRA 98/Article 8 and whether the information requested is reasonably required to find out whether a Statutory Payment is or was payable, see SPM80090.

Bear in mind that you may need to justify this if you have to seek penalties.

The authorised officer should make a written note of the factors they have considered when approving the Notice, particularly any HRA 98/Article 8 issues.

Once the authorised officer has approved the Formal Information Notice it can be issued by whoever is working the case.