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Banking Bill

I am grateful that the noble Baroness recognises that the Bank does not currently intend to charge fees for its routine oversight of payment systems. That practice will continue. This clause future-proofs the legislation against the potential eventuality that the Bank’s overall funding model might change. It shows that the Bank could continue to resource its oversight activity in such an event. Where the Bank incurs exceptional expenses in relation to its oversight activities—for example, due to the engagement of an expert to carry out an inspection, which we provide for in Clause 179—the Bank would aim to recover those costs from the system concerned rather than through imposing a general levy on all operators. That is a proper and just way of going about it. The scale of fees would be set by the Treasury by regulations to ensure fees are proportionate and can be challenged under judicial review if considered disproportionate or unreasonable. The clause is there to future-proof the position against a changing situation, and I hope that the noble Baroness will consider that the Government have been judicious in thinking ahead in these terms and that the clause is indeed necessary as it stands.