As was the case with the list of limited companies (initially published on 16 March 2017), the individuals listed have received support payments above a threshold of £5,000 from the opening of the scheme in 2012 to 28 February 2017. The information published is based on the most up to date data that the Department has received from Ofgem.
The Department has undertaken an extensive exercise which complies with the requirements of the Data Protection Act as recommended in the High Court judgment of 1 March 2017. In addition, as part of a series of checks, individual beneficiaries received a copy of their details in order to check those details for accuracy. Where specific requests for change were verified, these changes were made.
The Department has published this list in the interest of transparency alone and inclusion on the list does not imply wrongdoing by any of the beneficiaries. No one should prejudge the outcome of the planned audits or make incorrect presumptions based on the Department’s decision to release these details.