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Banking Bill

My Lords, as a co-sponsor of the original amendment, I naturally welcome the fact that the other place, in its wisdom, has decided to work with the spirit of the amendment rather than resist it and leave us all hunting through myriad documents for the information to which we are entitled. Nevertheless, there are still some things that puzzle me. As the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, said, the amendment proposes that the report is laid only before the House of Commons. I accept that privilege in money matters is relevant where approval is required, but I do not see why this has to be claimed in relation to the provision of information. Secondly, on the face of it, there seems to be something bizarre about the provision that the report must not identify, ever, the individual beneficiaries. Does that mean that these reports will never mention that we rescued and nationalised Northern Rock or put £20 million into the Royal Bank of Scotland? It seems rather strange. I thought that the original wording was superior to that of the Commons amendment, which says that, "““a report may omit that information until such a time as the Treasury consider that the public interest is no longer affected””." I remember that the Minister was asked at an earlier stage—I think it was by the noble Lord, Lord Blackwell—whether companies accepting help under various schemes were required under listing rules and so on to make that information public. I wonder whether he is able to update us on that. In my original remarks in Committee, I argued that the report required by the clause should be a vehicle for a wider report on all the measures that the Government are taking, and have already taken, to bring together those things, whether under the powers of this Bill or the powers of other Acts. Will the Minister say what consideration is being given to this, which is all the more necessary given the constraints that have been placed on the clause?