Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. Apparently, these banks are managed on an arm’s length basis, but it appears from press comments about the assets insurance scheme that strings are being attached to the receipt of such support. The Minister might like to think about my hon. Friend’s suggestion and attach a further string. Participation in a saving gateway account scheme might be a reasonable concession in return for the receipt of protection of apparently £500 billion—indeed, it would be a small price for banks to pay. The Minister might like to discuss with his colleagues in the Treasury and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether this is a feasible concession for the banks to make and whether the Government will press for it. One would like to think that, as part of their broader responsibility, financial services organisations would take very seriously a commitment to broaden access to financial services products and view it as a way of fulfilling that obligation. Paragraph (c) of my amendment stipulates as one of the conditions for approval"““the provider’s willingness to expand access to broader financial services””." It is an elastic and loose term, but I hope that when the banks and other financial institutions are thinking about whether they want to be a provider, they will bear it mind as part of their obligations.