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Banking Bill (Money)

I think that my hon. Friends would be reluctant for me to do that, since I could speak for another 32 minutes on this group of amendments. [Interruption.] I might be tempted to do so, but not on this occasion, to my colleagues' relief as much as mine, I suspect. The Minister said that the purpose of amendment 89 is to assist the valuer of Northern Rock in completing his work, and that it amends the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008. Can he confirm that there are adequate powers in the Bill to assist valuers when a company has been taken into temporary public ownership so that we do not have to return to this at a later stage? On amendment 90, we discussed in Committee the fact that it seemed rather odd for the Bank of England to be the only body that had statutory responsibility for financial stability. It is not a statutory responsibility of the Treasury or of the FSA, so this is a welcome move forward as it ensures that the Bank and the Treasury recognise their roles. We had tabled an amendment along similar lines in the House of Lords, but apparently the Government did not like our use of the phrase, ““in co-operation with”” and preferred the much more dynamic, ““working with””. I am not sure that I can see much difference, but the Government have their own view of what is and is not appropriate language to include in the Bill. I am rather grateful that they did not try to use the word subserviate in the amendment. On amendments 91 to 93, I echo the comments that the Economic Secretary made about my noble friend Baroness Noakes, who has made a significant contribution to improving the Bill during the deliberations in the Lords. It is right to ensure that there is broader disclosure of any conflicts of interest of members of the financial stability committee, some of whom are non-executive directors who hopefully will have relevant experience from their business lives to contribute to the committee. I welcome all of the amendments.