Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

My Lords, as we debated the Bill at earlier stages, there was growing consensus that one of the most important things that it might achieve would be to increase the extent to which people were reunited with their assets rather than spending assets on worthwhile things that had been disunited—if that is the right word—from their owners. I very much agree with what the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, said about that. In Committee, we tabled an amendment for the creation of a register. We did not pursue it on Report because we wanted to ensure that we changed the Bill as far as we could, which required us to get the maximum level of support from across the House, which did not extend to the establishment of a register from the start. However, to have a reserve power to establish a register, which is what the amendment seeks, merely adds somewhat to the amendment that we successfully passed on Report. Therefore, we are very happy to give it our full support. I hope that when the Minister replies, he does not use as a principal argument the fact that the scheme is technically a voluntary scheme. Again, we discussed that at great length at earlier stages. This is a statutory scheme in terms of how the money is spent, and I suspect that the only reason that noble Lords did not absolutely press for it to be a statutory or compulsory scheme from the start in legislation is that we received assurances from the trade associations, banks and building societies that every bank and building society that might be covered and affected by it would be a member of it. I do not believe that it is a valid argument that the amendment is irrelevant, unnecessary or inappropriate because it is a voluntary scheme. However, I hope that it will never be necessary to bring the power into force. The British Bankers’ Association, the Building Societies Association and NS&I have established the website www.mylostaccount. org.uk. Although I accept that at the moment it does not meet all the requirements that we would like, the pressure that the legislation has already caused has meant that the website is now up and running. In the three weeks since its launch, it has had some 72,000 claim forms submitted—more than for the whole of last year. That progress has happened only because this Bill has been going through your Lordships’ House. Having this reserve power hanging over the banks and building societies as a sort of Sword of Damocles should be used by the charities coalition as a means of getting improvements to the website over the next year or two so that it achieves everything that it wishes. From my perspective, it does not matter desperately whether it is a formal register, against which every name on a dormant bank or building society account can be checked wherever it is held, or a simple search facility in which submitting a name and a few minimal details automatically searches across all of the banks and building societies that might be holding a dormant account. That seems to be a technical issue. However, I hope that, having established the website in its current form and having seen its success over the past three weeks, the banks and building societies will be encouraged to develop it further, particularly in the ways suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Low. If it comes to a vote, we will therefore support the amendment in the Lobbies. I hope very much that that will not be needed.