Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

This stage of the legislative process is a little bit like an Oscars ceremony, as we run through all the people who are worthy of appreciation and thanks. I should like to thank the witnesses who appeared before us in the Public Bill Committee a few months ago, the civil servants for the assistance that they have given and the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) for his thorough and intelligent scrutiny of the Government. I thank the Economic Secretary for the considered way in which he has taken on board all the representations that have been made to him. The hon. Member for South Thanet (Dr. Ladyman) is right to draw our attention to the way in which the Minister has found himself persuaded—I shall not call it a concession—by arguments that carers should be brought within the scope of the Bill. That is an important change, which will be appreciated by many people who feel somewhat neglected in other regards or feel that their burdens are not sufficiently appreciated by society as a whole. They will have looked upon our deliberations, and when they come to feel the full consequence of them they will appreciate what has been done. There are two important features of the Bill, which have been the reasons why it has commanded support from all parties. First, it will provide a buffer for people who otherwise run their finances down, often because they have very little money, to a point where they have no security if there is some external shock for which they have not budgeted. That can make people’s lives difficult. As we have said before, if the washing machine breaks down or some feature of their life is suddenly changed without their being able to anticipate it, those people have no scope to address that difficulty. If the Bill helps in that regard, it is very much worth while. The bigger objective is to give people who currently have the smallest stake in society a bigger stake, and particularly a financial one. The amounts of money saved do not have to be particularly large, but the people who are enticed to save money because of the Bill will feel that they are participating in a wider collective endeavour and that the actions that are taken in their community, whether by Government or other organisations, have some bearing on their lives. They will then feel that they have a stake in the process, which is hugely important. As I said on Second Reading, it is the equivalent of the share-owning democracy being extended to people in the bottom 10 to 20 per cent. of society. That will bring widespread social benefits if the Bill works out as successfully as we all hope. Of course, we will see whether we have got some of the details right once the Bill takes effect, such as whether the 50p rate is correct, too high or too low and what people do after the two-year period has elapsed. However good the pilots were, we will never really know that until the scheme is properly up and running. I very much hope that it will succeed, and I have enjoyed participating and wish the Bill well.