Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I declare an interest as a member of the Commission on Unclaimed Assets, ably chaired by the Sir Ronald Cohen. Those of us who worked for two years on that commission were delighted that the idea of getting in touch with and using unclaimed assets or dormant accounts for the benefit of charities should have received such a fair wind from the Treasury Select Committee. I hope that the ““gentle approach”” that has been referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Shutt, will eventually lead to a widening of the scope for these ideas. We should remember as we consider the Bill how long it has taken to get to this stage and how gentle the persuasion has had to be just to get us to where we are today. Many people have been working on trying to have the assets made available to the charity sector, which was not even called the third sector when we started with these ideas. The ideas go back many years—in fact, decades. I pay tribute to those who have worked so assiduously to get this idea into the public consciousness, particularly Geraldine Peacock, the former chair of the Charity Commission. She has pursued this idea indefatigably. We should bear in mind that the banks have not rushed enthusiastically to support access to their dormant accounts. Getting to this stage has been a matter of gentle persuasion and of trying to sell the idea. Where we are now is not where we will eventually end up, but I hope that as we consider the Bill we will bear in mind how difficult it is has been to reach here.