Financial Services Bill

My Lords, I hesitate to stretch the concept of generosity at the Dispatch Box too far, although I hope to give a constructive response. We certainly share both the ambition outlined by the noble Baroness in her opening speech and the position put forward by the noble Lords, Lord Hodgson and Lord Higgins. In our concept, the quarterly meeting exists to provide transparency through the minutes of the council’s deliberations on strategic issues that are in the wider public interest; it will consider the risks. That is the point that the noble Lord, Lord Higgins, emphasised. It is the responsibility of the council to discuss these matters. The Government are clear that they want the council’s assessment of risk, and its consideration of possible actions and options for mitigating the risk, to be open to the public. That is the concept behind the openness of this operation. The terms of reference of the council, which we have published in draft, stipulate that such reports by the Bank and the FSA must be considered in three ways: a summary of the report must be discussed; the risks must be assessed; and the council must consider its response, including what options for mitigating action should be taken. All these issues will be part of the council’s report because they will have been discussed and minuted. I therefore do not think that the Government’s approach is vastly different from that intended by the noble Baroness. As an additional constructive point, I can offer to commit that the minutes will cover the substantive items on the agenda and that the terms of reference will be updated to reflect this. We will then be in no doubt as to what the total responsibility of the council will be. The identified risks and the actions proposed will be in public arena, which is where we and, I believe, the noble Baroness want them to be.