Clause 21
Saving Gateway Accounts Bill
9:15 am
Jeremy Browne (Taunton, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment 12, in clause 21, page 9, line 39, leave out ‘£300’ and insert ‘£3,000’.
Good morning, Mr. Taylor. We just passed clause 19 rather quickly, but Members who look at it will see that it includes a provision for imposing a £3,000 penalty on account holders who break the rules. We have just agreed to put that into effect.
Clause 21 sets out the penalties and sanctions for account providers if they break the rules, but we can see if we compare clause 19 with clause 21 that, whereas an account holder can be fined up to £3,000 for violating the rules, an account provider can be fined only one tenth of that amount—£300. There is a long list of rules that they are compelled to keep—nine of them in subsection (1). It would seem reasonable that account providers who break the rules should be subject to the same penalties as account holders who break the rules. That is the purpose of my amendment.