Building Societies (Funding) and Mutual Societies (Transfers) Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. He may well be right that that would be a good thing and make sense, but why do we need the amendments? Will the benefits be felt by mutual societies in other EEA countries rather than mutuals here? What will be the consequences in practical terms? Amendment No. 6 provides for the Financial Services Authority to charge fees for any functions conferred on it by the Bill. It is an eminently sensible addition. It would be perverse should the FSA be out of pocket as a result of the changes. I welcome the amendment. Perhaps the Minister will explain whether that would cover not just the costs of the work in front of the FSA at the time, but the costs of the extra staff that it may have to employ to deal with the additional workload. Lord Evans acknowledged that that would"““result in additional work and, therefore, costs for the FSA””.—[Official Report, House of Lords, 10 July 2007; Vol. 693, c. 1360.]" Presumably, that means that if it is providing additional work, we need additional staff to cope with it. I hope that the fees charged on that basis will cover those additional costs for the FSA as well as the costs incurred at the time when such things are being debated. I welcome the amendment if it means that the fee-charging powers would be extended in that way. When I was talking about amendment No. 3, I forgot to mention an important point about its definition of an EEA mutual society. Will the Minister tell the House how many mutuals across the EEA will be brought under the scope of the Bill as a result of the amendments? What are the practicalities of that? Can she outline what the Treasury envisages happening as a result of the provisions, and which mutual societies it has in mind? I welcome the Bill. Some of the amendments are absolutely necessary, but I share some of the concerns expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch, especially about amendment No. 1. I look forward to the Minister addressing all the concerns that have been raised this morning.