I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point, and I am glad that he agrees with me. People need to be assured that there is proper and discernable distance in these matters, and I return to the point of the national lottery's creation. I was the shadow Minister when the national lottery's purpose and function was changed after the 1997 general election. That had the effect of taking money away from the original good causes and, in retrospect, it was a mistake.
The assets under discussion in this Bill are clearly not Government money, so I see no reason why they should be distributed through a body that enjoys close relations with the Government. Another reason why I am concerned that the Government are proposing to give unclaimed money from dormant accounts to the BLF is that I fear the amount of money that can be passed on will be diminished by the BLF's significant operational costs. This money should be going straight to charities, but instead of going to worthwhile causes, a proportion of the money—too much, in my view—will go towards paying salaries and administration costs. I would like the Minister to tell the House what proportion of these unclaimed assets will be diverted to administration rather then to helping young people and so on?
Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [Lords]
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Risby
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Monday, 6 October 2008.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [Lords].
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2007-08Chamber / Committee
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