Baroness Altmann (Non-Afl)

My Lords, I also support the amendments in this group. I believe that the description of these extremely wide powers should, in itself, alert the House to the dangers that Clause 3 of the Bill could pose. I believe that it is important for the Government to understand, for example, what has been revealed in the latest report, just a few days ago, from Age UK about digital exclusion among the older age groups in this country. It is all very well for policymakers—and Members of this House, indeed—to believe that everyone can manage to bank online and that there is no need to go into a physical branch. But when it comes to the older generations, that is simply not the case. Certainly in terms of the population aged over 65, the research suggests that only 15% of pensioners, or of the over-65s, are fully digitally included and able to use all services digitally—it is 20% of men and 10% of women—and that 1.4 million over-65s are fully digitally excluded. The more we see bank closures and the less access to banking these people have, the more excluded from society they become. I hope the Government will recognise that we need to make sure that there is an opportunity for Parliament and for the legislation to ensure that these older people are not forgotten or left behind and that the access to banking that they may rely on is not removed, perhaps inadvertently, from legislation where it could have been avoided. For example, if we agreed some of the amendments in this group, they would ensure that either Clause 3 altogether or the most egregious parts of it are removed, as the noble Lord, Lord Vaux, said. As the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, said, we should make sure that the Lloyd review, which is meant to deal directly with this, is part of the legislation.