Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

I wish to speak in support of the amendment for reasons that the noble Baroness may find rather startling or even disagreeable; that is, social rather than financial reasons. The important principle of the Bill is one of financial inclusion and the amendment would be helpful in that direction. First, as I and one or two other noble Lords said at Second Reading, this Bill will in part help to eliminate the class bias in our savings and taxation system. It will help to provide poorer people, particularly working class people, with the range of advice, assistance and possible redress that wealthier people have tried to obtain through Equitable Life and other sagas of that kind. It is very important that a range of opportunity and scope should available for the poorer people whom we anticipate will be affected by the Bill. The other point that the noble Baroness made very clearly was that the measure would be of assistance in reassuring people, particularly given the utterly appalling record of the banks in the recent period. Reference was made to the Icelandic bank; it is particularly important that the role of the ombudsman is made fully available and that people are told about it. So many of the amendments that we have discussed have dealt with the provision of information. These people are not well versed in financial management, or even in the management of their own finances. They simply would not know about the scope offered by the ombudsman. As I say, in the case of Equitable Life, even more affluent people found it extremely difficult to get information of that kind. In the interests of what I take to be the egalitarian principles underlying this measure, from a progressive Government, I hope that they will take it on board.