Building Societies (Financial Assistance) Order 2008

That is a good try, but I am not going to be drawn into detail about a Bill that is still being prepared. The noble Baroness, with her usual accuracy, has identified when the provisions of the Act will conclude. The Government, having proposed that timescale, are mindful of it, and that is why the Bill has been promised for this year and will be produced this year for consideration. I would be the last member of the Government to be presumptuous about how rapidly we could get through a financial measure of such significance; unless the noble Baroness is offering on behalf of her party a level of co-operation unparalleled in the past so that we can see the Bill rapidly translated into legislation. The timing is an unknown factor as far as I am concerned and, in all honesty, it is probably an unknown factor as far as she is concerned. She cannot tie me down to dates regarding Royal Assent to a Bill that is still at the stage of consultation and preparation. On the Butterfill changes and the Bill that her honourable friend in the other place introduced, the proposed changes to the funding limits for building societies form an integral part of the Butterfill Bill, and during debates in that House we promised to offer MPs and Peers the opportunity to comment further. We will do so at a later date, when we seek to finalise the rest of the provisions before we implement the provisions of the Butterfill Bill. There is unfinished business here, but we indicated that we would offer further opportunities for consultation, and we intend to do so as far as that measure is concerned. In the mean time, I think it might be regarded by the rather more neutral observers of our exchanges that we have strayed quite a long way from the order before us. On Question, Motion agreed to.