Clause 4
12:45 pm
Jeremy Browne (Taunton, Liberal Democrat)
I rise briefly to support the spirit of the amendment. It is important that the amount is stated in the Bill, and that is crucial for one’s approval of it. There is understandable concern in some quarters that the 50p that every pound attracts is a very generous provision—20 times more generous than a commercial scheme would typically offer. Therefore the maximum amount that could be put aside each month to attract that amount from the Government is an important consideration. It is unsatisfactory for the Bill simply to say
“Regulations may, in particular, impose a limit on the amount”,
as if it were some casual detail that would have to be dropped at some point when the Government were considering these matters in the round. If we were being asked to approve a much higher, or even much lower, sum, it would have an impact on the willingness of Committee members or the House in general to support the Bill as a whole.