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Banking Bill

I thank the Minister. I am of course disappointed by the Government’s reaction to the amendment, because, as my noble friend Lord Borrie said, it was modest and not particularly radical. Before it became operational, there would have to be an order, which would have to be approved. The Treasury would be responsible for making the remuneration order or recommendation; it would have to agree it with the FSA and the Bank of England; and then a draft would eventually have to be laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament. So quite a procedure would have to be followed before it could be put into operation anyway, which would be only where there were problems which meant that the situation would have to be dealt with in that way. I say to Members who have opposed what I have suggested that we are no longer in the situation that has prevailed in past years; we are unfortunately in an economic crisis, about which many people are very concerned. It has social effects, which I tried to indicate when I moved the amendment. I was glad to hear the Minister say that the amendment was not needed, which I presume means that something is being done about the matter, because the FSA has the responsibility, I gather, to look at remuneration. I suppose that that is at least something. In the mean time, I shall examine carefully what has been said by our Front Bench, because public as well as social problems are involved. The large sums that have been paid to senior executives have resulted in a fair amount of unfavourable publicity. It is clear that a lot of people have become worked up about it, particularly employees who suddenly find themselves facing redundancy. They are not responsible for the decisions that have landed us in these problems—those have been taken higher up. Ordinary employees now face redundancy, sometimes in areas where other employment is not readily available. There will be enormous resentment if people are allowed to take large sums of money when they are felt to be responsible for some of the difficulties in which others find themselves. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 38 withdrawn. Clause 20 agreed. Clause 21 agreed.