Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

First, I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, has chipped in. I knew that he was here to help on the next amendment, but he is most welcome to comment on Amendment 39. The support of the noble Lord, Lord Newby, is welcome, for whatever reason it is given. The Minister says that there is no requirement in the child trust fund or ISA legislation and that HMRC publishes information anyway. That is true, but it is not always the case that the information is there for those trying to look at child trust funds. Indeed, when Parliamentary Questions are tabled to try to find out more information, we are often told that it is not available or cannot be provided without disproportionate cost. HMRC has a bit of a track record, too, of providing what it wants to provide; it often provides information on operational matters that it likes to do and not necessarily on policy matters. I do not think that I am being unfair about HMRC in this regard, which is why I was trying in this amendment to get some basic information, as the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, said, which would support a review in the context of the policy objectives of saving gateway accounts. I shall consider the Minister’s comments carefully. I do not think that the amendment is perfect, but I am not at all convinced that we should simply leave HMRC to decide what it wants to put into the public domain and then consistently bat away any further Parliamentary Questions on the grounds that the information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. If there are clear areas in which information is important to be provided to Parliament, we have an obligation to specify them, which does not preclude the Government and HMRC from giving additional information if they wish. However, there is a bare minimum data set that it might be reasonable to impose for the benefit of Parliament. I shall think carefully about what the Minister has said today and before we come to our consideration at Report, but at this stage I am not convinced. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 39 withdrawn.