Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:15 am on 26 March 2013.
Greg Clark
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury
This brings us to the end of the group of clauses relating to the FSCS. I anticipated some of the points relating to this Clause in my earlier remarks. The Office for National Statistics has reclassified the FSCS as a central Government body. As such, its accounts have to be consolidated in the Treasury group accounts. Each organisation in central Government must have an accounting officer. The accounting officer, as Members know, is someone who can be called to Parliament and held to account for the stewardship of resources within the organisation’s control. Clause 12 provides for the first time for the statutory appointment of the chief executive of the FSCS scheme manager as an accounting officer. The current chief executive is Mark Neale. The clause also ensures that the Treasury must approve the appointment of the chief executive.
As an accounting officer, the chief executive is personally responsible for safeguarding the public funds of which he or she is in charge. In the case of the FSCS, that takes the form of levies on the financial services industry. The chief executive is also personally responsible for ensuring that, subject to his or her duties under FSMA and the Companies Act 2006, the FSCS as a whole is run on the basis of the standards on governance, decision making and financial management that are set out in “Managing Public Money”. The statutory appointment of the chief executive as accounting officer will strengthen the FSCS. It is consistent with the reclassification of the body by the ONS. It represents an increased level of accountability to Parliament. I think it will help to provide the confidence that the Treasury needs in the regularity and propriety of the whole of the Treasury group account.
Cathy Jamieson
Shadow Minister (Treasury)
We have had some discussion on this in the light of the issues that were raised in Clause 10.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
