Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I declare an interest as a member of the Commission on Unclaimed Assets, the main recommendation of which was the setting-up of a social investment bank. In that context, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Hamilton and Lord Newby, for their wonderful commercials for the social investment bank, which I heartily endorse. The commission, so ably chaired by Sir Ronnie Cohen, identified the chronic underfunding and undercapitalisation of what we used to call the voluntary or charitable sector. It is now more readily called the third sector in order to include the social enterprise element and the community interest companies—in other words, the wider, not-for-profit sector. The Government have already made considerable efforts to address this chronic undercapitalisation through initiatives such as the Futurebuilders fund, which provides loans to enable third sector organisations to have sufficient capital to be financially viable. They can then go on to provide services for local authorities and the private sector, thereby earning money which can then be recycled for the benefit of their client groups, principally the disadvantaged people to whom the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton, referred. I again declare an interest as chair of the Futurebuilders Advisory Panel. The third sector needs a boost and this is where the commission felt that investment could readily be given. There are very good examples from the United States and Ireland, where this has been done. Perhaps I may say a word about the terminology. We talked in our initial report about a ““social investment bank””, but the idea was always that such a bank would be a wholesaler. We were worried about the wider use of the term ““bank”” lest it be seen as competing with other, more usual, types of bank, or with bodies such as Charity Bank or the Unity Trust Bank. That is where the term ““wholesaler”” came into operation because such a bank would act as a wholesaler, but there may have been some confusion there. It seems to me that it was always intended that the social investment wholesaler—the institution, agency or whatever we are going to call it—would take into account all the things set out in Amendment No. 76. Therefore, although I have some sympathy with the points that have been made, I imagine the Minister will tell us that that is what the Government intend the wholesaler to do. We are concerned here with value added, as the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton, mentioned, and the opportunity to make a real difference. The commission estimated that £250 million would be a very good sum but that it would be willing to start with whatever was available. However, I should like to reassure the Committee in that regard because all the estimates show that, although it may start small, a lot of money will be available in this fund. I am absolutely convinced that there will be enough money not only for the much needed expenditure on youth, which we understand is the Government’s priority, but also for the development of financial knowledge and expertise, which is currently so important when many people are getting into trouble with debt and so on, and the social investment bank. I have some sympathy with the amendments but I am sure that what we all want will happen anyway with the social investment wholesaler.