Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

It will not surprise the Committee to learn that we fully support the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Newby. We believe that transparency is one of the necessary counterweights to put into the mix of this curious body that is being created—a hybrid body with clear public interest in what it is doing. While supporting the amendment that would compel the fund to present its annual report to Parliament, I ask the Minister to say how the Government expect the reclaim fund to comply with its obligation in respect of publication in paragraph 3 of Schedule 1. There is no specification of how publication is to be made. Is it to be sent to people or advertised? Is it just to be sneaked on to a website without any publicity? There is a lacuna at the moment regarding what should be done about publication. When one deals with company law generally, it is normally quite specific about what sort of publication is required or permitted. The Government have not necessarily dealt with that in sufficient detail in the Bill.