Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

My party, for the reasons that have just been outlined by the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban), supports this legislation, partly because it encourages self-reliance in people on very low incomes. It will encourage them to save in a way that gives them a greater stake in society and to interact with financial constitutions in a way that, in many cases, they do not feel able to do. Both of those objectives are laudable, and that is why we support the legislation. Even though there have been pilot studies, we have had to made educated guesses about how the system will work in practice. We cannot be certain, for example, that the 50p matching rate will not be excessive and, therefore, place too great a burden on the taxpayer in achieving the scheme's objective. On the other hand, it might not be a sufficient inducement for people who will be encouraged to take it up. We do not know whether the two-year period will be successful. We do not know whether the maximum contribution is set at an appropriate level—too high or too low. We cannot be certain about the cost or the penetration of the scheme—the two are linked. We may wish to increase the inducements, because the people whom the scheme is meant to attract are not sufficiently attracted on the existing terms. Or it may be that the costs prove to be prohibitive and the Government wish to scale back the scheme in the future. It is important that the Minister makes a commitment that when this review comes to this House, it will be debated, not just noted. More importantly, the seven-year period is excessive. We will have at least two general elections between now and then. I do not mean to be unkind, but the Minister's predecessor was in office for nine days, so while it is possible that she will be in post in seven years' time, it is not unreasonable to expect some ministerial changes in the Treasury in that time. More importantly, we will have had more than enough time to review the issues that I have raised and for a reasonable opinion to be formed about the workability or otherwise of the legislation. Like the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban), I would encourage the Government to think about the lifetime of a Parliament as being a reasonable scale. Four years would be an appropriate amount of time to make a reasonable assessment, would fit into a natural political cycle and would also be sufficient to gauge the success or otherwise of the scheme. As I have made the case previously for such a measure, like the hon. Member for Fareham we will not oppose the measure before us although it is not precisely that which we would have introduced had it been left in our hands. On that basis, and with those caveats, we are happy to support Lords amendment 7.