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Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

I thank Members of the Committee for taking part in this short debate. This amendment is different from the previous amendment, which tried automatically to bring additional people within the scheme. This amendment is designed only to give the Government longer-term flexibility. I am amazed at the ingenuity of the Treasury in costing something which was not specified. I introduced my amendment, which was quite wide, to allow eligibility though an annual income of a prescribed amount, which gives a lot of scope for setting the possible alteration. Yet the Minister came back with some numbers; namely, that it would cost £2.5 million reducing to a steady state of £1 million—I am astonished by that—regardless of how any regulations might be constructed. Clearly, the powers of the Treasury are getting greater by the day.