Financial Services Bill

I am mystified by this. The Bank of England Act is not specific on this. The only broader references might be in relation to the specification of the Monetary Policy Committee’s objective in the 1998 Act. However, I do not think that the 1948 Act—if that is the right year—the 1998 Act or last year’s Banking Act specified these broader aspects. We continually refine what the Bank of England is supposed to do. Surely it is right to use best practice from other parts. We have the FSA with the financial stability objective expressed in different ways from the Bank of England. Are they not supposed to be achieving the same thing? Are they achieving different things? The Minister has not explained why they should be expressed differently.