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Banking Bill

My Lords, the Government’s amendments to Clause 74 respond to the concerns expressed in Committee about the parliamentary scrutiny of secondary legislation. The purpose of Clause 74 is to ensure that the Government can deal with the tax consequences of a transfer made under the special resolution regime in Part 1. The intention is to ensure, broadly, that tax advantages or disadvantages that are created because of a transfer can be neutralised and that continuity can be preserved where appropriate. The regulations to do this would be made under the draft affirmative procedure, but the clause also contains a power to make orders to amend the list of taxes in relation to which regulations could be made. The Government considered that it was appropriate for the order-making power to be subject to the negative procedure, as there would be an opportunity for full debate, under the affirmative procedure, on the substantive provisions when the regulations were made. However, the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee has indicated that, had it been a matter that concerned both Houses, it would have recommended that the affirmative procedure should be used for the order-making power. The Government take the views of the committee very seriously and, while this is really a matter for another place to consider, we have also reflected further on this matter in the light of the debate in Committee in this House. As a result, we have decided to switch the order-making power to the affirmative procedure. I therefore hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, will not move Amendment 52.