Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

I move Amendment 42, which would add a new subsection to Clause 12, to debate a further issue relating to the regulations on recovery of payments that will be issued under this clause. The draft regulations allow HMRC to recover money from an account provider, an account holder or someone who is entitled to receive a maturity payment. But paragraph (3) of Regulation 20 of the draft regulations says that these persons are jointly and severally liable. That means that HMRC can pursue the deepest pocket available, which will almost certainly be the account provider. My amendment says that an account provider need not account to HMRC for an amount which it has paid in good faith to an account holder or other person entitled in law to receive the amount. For example, if a saving gateway account has been opened incorrectly so that a maturity payment should not be made, and if the account provider has in good faith paid that over to the account holder, why should that provider be pursued for the amount? The draft regulations seem to restrict the liability of the account provider but are drafted as to the extent that the account holder has assets in its possession or control. It would be very surprising if the account provider did not have any assets in its possession or control because there is no restriction in the regulations to assets relating to the saving gateway account. If a provider has anything in its books, the regulations allow HMRC to recover it from the account provider. I hope that the Minister can explain how those recovery provisions are expected to work and how the draft regulations achieve that. I may have misunderstood them, but, if not, some amendment is required to protect those who have paid out in good faith. I beg to move.