Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

I note that the noble Baroness describes this as a probing amendment. It would extend the scheme to people who could claim a qualifying benefit or tax credits but do not do so. As the noble Baroness said, these are people within our target group but who will not be eligible under a system of passporting. Unfortunately, it would not be possible for HMRC to identify this group, so I do not believe that the amendment would be workable. There is simply no way of knowing whether someone would be eligible for these benefits unless they make a claim for them. One option would be to introduce a means test alongside passporting. We will come to that in more detail when we discuss Amendments 8 and 12, also in the name of the noble Baroness, but this seems to be particularly problematic. Given that the people in this group have chosen not to claim the qualifying benefits or tax credit, it seems unlikely that many would choose to complete a means test to apply for the saving gateway. Many people do choose to claim benefits and tax credits. For example, 82 per cent of eligible families receive child tax credit. That is the highest level of take-up for income-related support ever achieved. The take-up is even higher for households with incomes below £10,000, at 96 per cent, and for lone parents at 95 per cent. Take-up rates for out-of-work income-related benefits are also relatively high at between 49 per cent and 60 per cent for income-based jobseeker’s allowance, and between 81 per cent and 90 per cent for income support. We are also simplifying and streamlining the benefits system to make it easier to understand and to help further increase take-up rates. While I understand what the noble Baroness is trying to achieve, I hope that she will seek leave to withdraw the amendment.