---

Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

I will come back to the Minister’s 4.5 million, because his maths did not quite add up. I had a figure of 4.5 million as well, but he then said that 1.8 million people would not be eligible and that 2.7 million were not taking the benefits up. There are 12.5 million people who would qualify for the saving gateway account on the basis of their income or their eligibility for benefits, and half of them are effectively excluded because they do not take up their benefits. There are 4.3 million on low income who might qualify if a means-tested scheme were introduced, and 8 million are eligible by virtue of claiming the qualifying benefits. So there is a large number of people on a low income to whom the scheme will not be relevant at the moment. The hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) mentioned the tension between those who are on benefits and those who are not. This topic crops up in our surgeries and our correspondence. People ask, ““Why are they entitled to that when they are on benefit?”” and ““Why aren’t I entitled to it?”” We need to consider the equity involved, and to get the balance right.