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Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [Lords]
3:45 pm
Ian Pearson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Dudley South, Labour)
The situation is as the hon. Member for Fareham suggests. We believe that the new clause is unnecessary. The explanatory note on clause 15 states that the Treasury intends to amend the regulations—made under the Building Societies Act 1986—that deal with building society accounts and reports, so that they include the same requirement to report on participation in the smaller institution scheme. The answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question is that where a regulation-making power, under which the relevant provisions can be made, already exists, it is normal practice for that power to be used, rather than making a new power with primary legislation. That is why we are explaining what we are doing using that power, and that is why that detail is in the explanatory note rather than in the legislation.