Clause 2
Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Ian Pearson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Dudley South, Labour)
Yes, I am. I have asked that question of officials. Obviously, there have been changes during the past few weeks and months, but I am confident that an asset limit of £7 billion strikes the right balance and enables us to have a scheme of a sufficient size that it can be efficient in its distribution of funds.
We very much welcome the recent BSA statement in support of the Bill as it was introduced to Parliament, which is what the amendments are designed to achieve. The Government’s proposals for an alternative scheme for smaller financial institutions have also been welcomed by the BSA. We also welcome its statement expressing its members’ commitment to making the scheme a success and their intention to participate in it, as we do the British Banking Association’s statement confirming commitments to participate from banking groups representing 90 per cent. of the UK retail banking market.
The proposed scheme is designed to be simple and efficient, to minimise costs to institutions and the scheme overall, and to maximise funds for distribution. The asset limit provides a balance between giving small, locally based banks and building societies the flexibility to benefit directly their local communities against maximising the assets for the main scheme, which will be operated through the Big Lottery Fund to give money to good causes. We believe that the amendments will produce the alternative scheme for small, locally based institutions, which is what small banks and building societies want.