HC Deb 25 February 1960 vol 618 cc558-60
18. Mr. Jay

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in enabling the trustee savings banks to meet the demand of the public for a limited cheque system.

30. Mr. Lipton

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he rejected the proposal of the trustee savings banks to introduce a cheque service for depositors.

Mr. Barber

My right hon. Friend has had this matter under consideration and I have recently written on his behalf to the chairman of the Trustee Savings Banks' Assocation explaining certain major difficulties which we see in introducing legislation for this purpose at the present time. But I have invited representatives of the association to come and discuss the matter with me and I should prefer to defer a statement until after I have heard whether, as I hope, they accept this invitation.

Mr. Jay

Is it not the case that this proposal, which is supported by the whole of the trustee savings banks movement, has been under consideration by the Chancellor for a year and that the letter which the hon. Member has written has been taken as a refusal by the association? If it is not, will he assure us that he will sympathetically examine the proposal?

Mr. Barber

I certainly give that assurance. It would be quite wrong to think that this suggestion has been turned down out of hand. When I wrote the letter I expressed myself in these terms: I do not think that I can at present give any undertaking to introduce legislation. I thought that it was fair to point out to the chairman the difficulties which we envisaged in order that he would have an opportunity of discussing them with me.

Mr. Lipton

Will the hon. Member give an assurance that the Treasury is not animated by political considerations in this matter? Is he aware that the trustee savings banks movement is not an organisation for the private profit of individuals? Will he assure us that he has not been intimidated by the well-paid chairmen and directors of the "big five" banks who obviously do not want the trustee savings banks to operate such a service?

Mr. Barber

The Treasury is never intimidated and we are never motivated by political considerations.

Mr. Hoy

The letter to which the hon. Member referred looked suspiciously like a refusal, and we are glad to have an assurance this afternoon that the opportunity still exists. When he undertook consultations, as he did, with certain of the joint stock banks, would it not have been very much more polite of him to have consulted the Trustee Savings Banks' Association about this proposal before sending a letter which was tantamount to a refusal, despite its concluding lines?

Mr. Barber

No, Sir. I think that the hon. Member, no doubt in advertently, has misunderstood what happened. Early last year the trustee savings banks let it be known in the Press that they had put forward a new cheques scheme. The British Bankers' Association saw the report in the Press and asked whether it could make its views known to the Treasury. It was permitted to do so, and did so in June last year, and there has been no discussion with the British Bankers' Association since then.

Mr. Hoy

Is it not correct that the first overtures of the Trustee Savings Banks' Association were made to the National Debt Office and that these consultations have been going on since the latter part of 1958? Negotiations were started before any public information was given about them. Surely it is right that this organisation, which represents no fewer than 9 million small depositors in this country, should have equal facilities to deal with its customers with those of the joint stock banks?

Mr. Barber

It is for those reasons that I hope sincerely that the chairman of the Trustee Savings Banks' Association will accept my invitation to discuss the matter with me.

Mr. Arbuthnot

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that time is important in this matter, particularly because the payment of wages by cheques will soon become operative?

Mr. Barber

I quite agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that we can arrange a meeting soon.