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Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I do not want to repeat the eloquent speeches that noble Lords have already made on Amendment No. 10 and the other amendments in that group; I simply rise to support them. The key is that there are differences, of the nature that the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, has just explained, between a bank and a building society. One of the key differences is the link with the local community. Bar the Nationwide, the eight building societies that we are talking about still have a very local or regional base. I gather that, in addition to the Nationwide, the Britannia, Chelsea and Skipton Building Societies support the amendment. Those three have very clear local or regional bases. That is very different from virtually all the banks; it is certainly completely different from banks which may have just one branch—it may be a foreign bank—in the City of London, which I presume would be included in the scheme. The nature of building societies is different. They are in many ways admirable institutions. Many of us, I think, wish that there were rather more of them, and we might not have some of the current problems that we have with our banks. However, be that as it may, they do admirable work. It is in the interests of the public that we support them when we can. This is a way of strengthening the building societies. Therefore, I hope that the Government will treat the amendment sympathetically.