Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I did not intervene earlier in this amendment because I was sure that the Minister, even if he did not agree absolutely with its terms, would say something mildly reassuring. What he has just said is quite unacceptable, however. If a direction had been given last week, for example, on the assumption that Big does an annual report based on the calendar year, it could presumably be 15 months before the direction saw the light of day. This seems completely unacceptable. If he does not want to bring the matter to Parliament—and I know that the Government have resisted Parliament having anything to do with this scheme—why can the report not at the very least be placed on the website of the relevant department the day that it is sent to Big, so that people know what is being proposed. These directions are not on minor things; the Bill is so vague on how the directions will actually be set out the priorities for Big in terms of apportionment between the three headings and where the money is being spent on youth activities. It is completely unacceptable that there could be a gap of many months before a government direction reached the public domain.