Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

We must stop cross-dressing on each other’s speeches! I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate. My noble friend Lord Naseby referred to the fact that normally I express myself as an extreme sceptic on the benefits of mutuals, as opposed to any other form of commercial organisation. To that extent, I agree with my noble friend Lord Eccles, but there is not necessarily a distinction between banks and building societies to this extent. If large banks wished to take part in the alternative scheme, I would want to support them, but even the banks that used to be building societies have not been knocking at our door to say that they should be able to do so. However, it is clear that the larger building societies, led by the Nationwide, wish to have more flexibility in how they approach the use of dormant account money on their books. The Minister said that these building societies can go to the Big Lottery Fund. It is a ludicrous argument that has the building societies paying the money to the reclaim fund, which pays the money to the Big Lottery Fund, which then, if it feels like it, might hand it back. That is such a nonsensical argument that it is barely worth responding to it, other than to note that it is ludicrous.