Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

There is a basic problem here: the Big Lottery Fund is already suspect in the sense that it is felt that its operation so far has involved dispensing money which should otherwise have been provided from government resources. The money we are talking about in the Bill is not government money in any sense. Therefore, it is difficult to understand the argument that it should be administered by a body which is clearly associated with the Government. I was not fully aware that, as my noble friend said in moving the amendment, the Big Lottery Fund says that increasing the effectiveness of government expenditure is legitimate. The right thing to do in the Bill is to have the proceeds apportioned by a body that is clearly independent and cannot be open to suspicion that it is being used to cover expenditure that would otherwise be covered by the Government. The objectives of the Bill are entirely admirable, but the more one goes into the detail, the more one becomes worried that the way they are put forward in the legislation is not ideal. I hope the Minister will understand our concerns on this point and agree that an amendment that provided for the scheme to be administered in an impartial way would be preferable if the scheme as a whole is to get general approval.