Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

I understand the noble Baroness’s concerns, but we do not think that the situation referred to in the amendment will be common. I hope that I can provide the noble Baroness with some reassurance. As noble Lords may be aware, we intend to provide in regulations that a saving gateway account can be held only by a person who is or has been an eligible person and must not be held on behalf of any person other than the account holder. That is covered by draft Regulations 10(1)(b) and 10(1)(g). The effect of these provisions would be that, should the account holder sell or transfer an account, it will cease to be a saving gateway account and any right to a maturity payment would be lost. Beyond those safeguards, we do not consider it appropriate to further regulate the purpose to which eligible account holders put their savings, as to do so risks overregulation and could act to deter eligible people from opening an account. For those reasons, I hope that the noble Baroness will withdraw her amendment. When she has read and studied my remarks, if she feels that my response to her point is inadequate and that her concerns have not been fully addressed, I would be happy to meet her and discuss the matter further before the Bill returns to the House.