Contribution
My Lords, I am hearing two arguments here: a strong consensus across the House for the need for access to banking and for the appropriate actions to be taken to make sure that that takes place; and a concern, also raised in Committee, about the breadth of the power, particularly its constitutional implications and the degree of scrutiny that Parliament would be able to exercise over any regulations made under it. These are serious points and the Government have considered them seriously, but they have concluded that Clause 3 is needed at this stage. Because the independent Lloyd review of access to banking has not yet concluded, we do not know whether it will recommend intervention, which consumers may be most affected, the nature of any detriment, and what form any intervention should take. Removing Clause 3 altogether, as Amendment 10 would do, would risk leaving the Government without a mechanism in the Bill to respond promptly if the review identifies a focused and time-sensitive need for intervention.
Amendment 9 would remove the ability to amend primary legislation through regulations made under Clause 3. If acting on the review’s findings required changes to an Act of Parliament, removing this ability would risk removing the mechanism to respond promptly to the review and could delay implementation. Amendment 7 would take a different approach by limiting the powers to matters arising directly from the review. I understand the intention behind that amendment and the review should clearly play the central role in shaping any future intervention. That is why the Bill already requires the Treasury to have regard to the review’s recommendations, but it would not be right to prevent Ministers from considering other relevant evidence alongside the review when deciding whether and how to act. The Government need to preserve the ability to respond proportionately to the full evidence that is available.
Amendment 8 is probably one on which we all agree. The noble Lord, Lord Holmes, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, talked about the central part that post offices can play in making sure that banking access is available. I can confirm that the chair of the review into access to banking services has received representations from and has engaged with the Post Office and the National Federation of SubPostmasters and that officials will continue to engage as part of the development. As noble Lords know, the target is more than 350 full banking hubs, plus 10,500 post offices, involved in this, and I thoroughly commend the points that they have made.
I absolutely understand the concerns about the Henry VIII powers, which seem very broad. Clause 3 does not itself impose new obligations on firms, or any specific model of banking provision. Any regulations under the power would also be subject to the affirmative procedure. However, I assure noble Lords that the Government do not expect Clause 3 to remain in its current form. I forget how the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, said her hopes would be fulfilled, but I think they would be fulfilled by amendments that were focused on the thing that we all agree on, which is the need for proper access to banking for older people, for younger people—for everyone.
The Government remain committed to keeping the scope of the power under review as the independent review completes its work. We expect to narrow this power after the review reports in October, when I expect the Bill will be in the Commons. Once the Lloyd review has concluded, the Government will be in a better position to consider the correct scope of this power. It would therefore be premature to narrow the power at this stage. For those reasons, I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment, though perhaps more in hope than expectation.