To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with Natwest on the potential merits of pausing their planned closure of Ulster Bank branches.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with Natwest on the potential merits of pausing their planned closure of Ulster Bank branches.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing independent oversight of the review by NatWest into allegations of mis-selling of fixed rate hedging products by Ulster Bank.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing independent oversight of the review by NatWest into allegations of mis-selling of fixed rate hedging products by Ulster Bank.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reviewing the use of (a) interest rate hedging and (b) swap-like products in connection with fixed rate loans products by Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reviewing the use of (a) interest rate hedging and (b) swap-like products in connection with fixed rate loans products by Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the future of Ulster Bank.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the future of Ulster Bank.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with Natwest on the potential effect of its review of Ulster Bank operations on jobs in Belfast.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with Natwest on the potential effect of its review of Ulster Bank operations on jobs in Belfast.

Motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

Motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, in the UK, seven banks currently hold the authority to issue commercial bank notes: four in Northern Ireland and three in Scotland. One of these banks, Ulster Bank, is part of the RBS Group and is a direct subsidiary of NatWest Bank. Later this year, the RBS Group...

My Lords, in the UK, seven banks currently hold the authority to issue commercial bank notes: four in Northern Ireland and three in Scotland. One of these banks, Ulster Bank, is part of the RBS Group and is a direct subsidiary of NatWest Bank. Later this year, the RBS Group...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, and welcome this instrument, which brings a practical reform necessary for Ulster Bank Ltd to continue to be an authorised bank issuing commercial bank notes in Northern Ireland through National Westminster Bank.

I must raise an urgent Northern Ireland issue as well....

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, and welcome this instrument, which brings a practical reform necessary for Ulster Bank Ltd to continue to be an authorised bank issuing commercial bank notes in Northern Ireland through National Westminster Bank.

I must raise an urgent Northern Ireland issue as well....

My Lords, I have, of course, supported the campaign by the noble Lord, Lord Hain, on behalf of those suffering historical injuries, but I will concentrate on the instrument in question. This is relatively uncontentious and arises as a result of the restructuring of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group,...

My Lords, I have, of course, supported the campaign by the noble Lord, Lord Hain, on behalf of those suffering historical injuries, but I will concentrate on the instrument in question. This is relatively uncontentious and arises as a result of the restructuring of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group,...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for outlining the purpose of what we are discussing today. There are many reasons why Northern Ireland holds such a special place at the heart of our United Kingdom. One must surely be that the four locally based banks are authorised to issue their...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for outlining the purpose of what we are discussing today. There are many reasons why Northern Ireland holds such a special place at the heart of our United Kingdom. One must surely be that the four locally based banks are authorised to issue their...

My Lords, I support the making of the regulations, but I have a couple of questions for my noble friend the Minister for clarification.

I appreciate that commercial concerns have precipitated the need for these regulations because the Explanatory Memorandum states that the restructuring of the RBS Group means that it...

My Lords, I support the making of the regulations, but I have a couple of questions for my noble friend the Minister for clarification.

I appreciate that commercial concerns have precipitated the need for these regulations because the Explanatory Memorandum states that the restructuring of the RBS Group means that it...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out this regulatory change, which I support. Some of the points that I wanted to make have already been made, but I have a couple of questions about the technical change being suggested and the operation of the unusual system of private...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out this regulatory change, which I support. Some of the points that I wanted to make have already been made, but I have a couple of questions about the technical change being suggested and the operation of the unusual system of private...

It is a pleasure to follow the pedantry of the noble Lord, Lord Wood. This is the first debate in which I have participated with the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, on the Government Front Bench, so I welcome her to her position.

As the noble Lord, Lord Wood, alluded to, the...

It is a pleasure to follow the pedantry of the noble Lord, Lord Wood. This is the first debate in which I have participated with the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, on the Government Front Bench, so I welcome her to her position.

As the noble Lord, Lord Wood, alluded to, the...

My Lords, I am certain that Walter Scott would be one of the pioneers of cashless payments and internet shopping and banking if he were around today. I suspect that the Minister, whom I welcome to her post, is not yet able to tell us what the impact of the...

My Lords, I am certain that Walter Scott would be one of the pioneers of cashless payments and internet shopping and banking if he were around today. I suspect that the Minister, whom I welcome to her post, is not yet able to tell us what the impact of the...

My Lords, I very much welcome the opportunity to take part in this short debate. I too congratulate my noble friend Lady Penn on her appointment to the Front Bench. I shall keep my

comments brief but, first, I associate myself with the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Hain,...

My Lords, I very much welcome the opportunity to take part in this short debate. I too congratulate my noble friend Lady Penn on her appointment to the Front Bench. I shall keep my

comments brief but, first, I associate myself with the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Hain,...

My Lords, I welcome the Minister to her position. I too would like to be associated with the comments of the

noble Lord, Lord Hain, in relation to the non-implementation of the victims’ pension scheme, which should have been put in place last week. In fact, I have a Private...

My Lords, I welcome the Minister to her position. I too would like to be associated with the comments of the

noble Lord, Lord Hain, in relation to the non-implementation of the victims’ pension scheme, which should have been put in place last week. In fact, I have a Private...

My Lords, this is also my first opportunity to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, to her position. I agree with many noble Lords who have spoken that this statutory instrument is not contentious. This is a time of change for banknotes and coins, and consequently I have three questions...

My Lords, this is also my first opportunity to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, to her position. I agree with many noble Lords who have spoken that this statutory instrument is not contentious. This is a time of change for banknotes and coins, and consequently I have three questions...

I am grateful to the Minister for introducing this statutory instrument, and I join others in welcoming her to her position. I have listened with great interest to the points made by other noble Lords during this debate. My noble friend Lord Wood of Anfield made a characteristically interesting speech,...

I am grateful to the Minister for introducing this statutory instrument, and I join others in welcoming her to her position. I have listened with great interest to the points made by other noble Lords during this debate. My noble friend Lord Wood of Anfield made a characteristically interesting speech,...

I thank all noble Lords for their warm words of welcome. I am grateful for the debate on this matter, which has sometimes been extremely detailed, and I hope to address as many points as I can in my response.

I start by addressing the points made by the noble Lord,...

I thank all noble Lords for their warm words of welcome. I am grateful for the debate on this matter, which has sometimes been extremely detailed, and I hope to address as many points as I can in my response.

I start by addressing the points made by the noble Lord,...

Lords motion to consider. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to consider. Agreed to on question.