Clause 23
Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [Lords]
9:00 am
Ian Pearson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Dudley South, Labour)
I beg to move amendment No. 19, in clause 23, page 11, line 31, leave out subsection (2).
Good morning, Dr. McCrea. Subsection (2) was inserted into the clause in the other place contrary to our wishes. It would require Parliament to agree by affirmative resolution to the directions issued to the Big Lottery Fund by the Secretary of State on operational matters, such as the BLF’s financial management and staffing accounts, and by the Secretary of State to the devolved Administrations on the distribution of dormant account funds. By removing subsection (2), the Government consider that the scope of the Bill, as previously drafted, will be appropriate. Although I appreciate the arguments made in the other place for greater transparency and accountability, I hope that the Committee will accept that we have taken them into consideration elsewhere in the Bill and that subsection (2) is not necessary.