Clause 18
Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [Lords]
4:15 pm
Ian Pearson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Dudley South, Labour)
This is not complicated, although it could be if hon. Members want it to be. Any number of allocation formulae could be used in these circumstances. I appreciate the concern to ensure that the distribution of unclaimed assets is fair and transparent across the United Kingdom, and that is the Government’s intention and the basis on which we consulted. Having designed the scheme in such a way as to enable spending decisions to be devolved, it follows that we should use Barnett principles for dividing the available money, as that is the normal way of proportioning spending between UK Administrations. It simply is not established practice or policy to put the Barnett formula into legislation, and I am aware of no other circumstances in which we have done so.