Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken, including those who have made a special effort to be here and to bring with them the expertise they have displayed on pensions legislation—expertise which, I hasten to add, I have not a hope of matching. The Committee will recognise that my task is to defend the proposals in the Bill. The noble Lord, Lord Newby, is right: the issue of support for deserving pensioners is of great concern to the Government, hence the great deal of activity going on at the present time which is giving rise to some remarkably ill-informed press comment. The issues we are seeking to address are challenging, but it would be singularly inappropriate to divert resources from dormant account funds to the lifeboat fund.