Commentary on Sections National Minimum Wage Section 12: Powers to investigate criminal offences
73.Section 12 applies investigation powers, and their accompanying safeguards, to investigations by HMRC of criminal offences under NMWA 1998.
74.Subsection (1) applies provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 to investigations conducted by HMRC in relation to criminal offences under section 31 of NMWA 1998. These provisions will allow HMRC officers, for example, to apply for production orders and search warrants or to arrest a person suspected of committing an offence, in the same circumstances as these powers would be used in investigating other offences for which HMRC is the responsible investigating body.
75.Subsection (2) applies HMRC’s normal Scottish criminal investigation powers to investigations of NMW criminal offences in Scotland.