UK Parliament / Open data

Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

The Minister says that he should have had £5 each time he had been in a "may" or "shall" debate and that he would be a rich man. That may be the case, but I have to tell him that it is not the last such debate—not even the last in this Bill. He will have to deal with some more. As he knows, we table amendments in areas in which we think there should be no discretion or flexibility for the Government over time. I am aware that parliamentary draftsmen normally default to "may", but we have occasionally won an amendment on "shall". I shall remind him of that when it is clear that the regulations must be passed. I could cite a recent example from the Pensions Bill from last year, but I shall not taunt him with it. This is probably not one of those instances that I regard as most important, and I accept the Minister’s clear assertion, as is laid out in the draft regulations, that the Government intend to restrict the availability of child tax credit recipients to the saving gateway account. I am sure that the Minister knows that the conditions of the saving gateway account are far too generous for the context of that account. But I accept his undertakings on that, without necessarily buying in to the whole need for flexibility for the Government in regulation-making powers. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 14 withdrawn. Amendments 15 to 18 not moved. Clause 3 agreed.

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

709 c324-5GC 

Session

2008-09

Chamber / Committee

House of Lords Grand Committee
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