Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I have considerable sympathy for my noble friend’s amendment. I note that his account book is labelled ““The Post Office Account””. I wonder whether that was the same as a National Savings and Investments account. I leave as a question whether we are talking about exactly the same thing. It is certainly the case that there are accounts in National Savings and Investments. We believe that the amount of dormant money potentially available is approaching £1 billion—National Savings and Investments has volunteered that figure. It is a very large amount of money, and it seems odd that there is one rule for banks and building societies and another for the Government. If the Government manage to get a deposit in National Savings and Investments, they can keep it if the customer loses track of the details. That is not the case with the banks, which will not be allowed to do so in future. I have a couple of questions for the Minister about the consequences if the Government handed over the National Savings and Investments money. If we assume that the whole £1 billion is handed over, it is clear that the Government would have to borrow £1 billion in order to fill the cash hole in the Treasury’s accounts. That swaps one kind of debt for another. Would that increase the government borrowing figures? I am not sure that there would be an increase in the borrowing, but perhaps the Minister would clarify that. Would there be any implications for public expenditure? If there were, where would it flow through? Which department? Which totals would it be in? Would it be in the departmental expenditure limits or the annual managed expenditure limits? How would we see that flowing through the government accounts? I am sure my noble friend will understand that whether I can support his amendment depends on the impact on public expenditure and borrowing.