COMMONS AMENDMENTS (Hansard, 10 November 1975)

§ Lord BESWICK

My Lords, with the leave of the House I will deal with Amendments Nos. 29, 30 and 31 together with Amendments Nos. 33 and 35. Clause 16 permits the Board, in defined circumstances, to spend money in facilitating the rescue of the insurance business of a failing company in advance of a liquidation. Subsection (8) was added to the clause by your Lordships on Report to make it clear that the Board might use their powers under the clause to rescue a company in financial difficulties only if it appeared to them to be cheaper than to protect the policyholders under Clauses 6 to 11 in the event of the company's liquidation. It was decided in the other place that a further provision ought to be added to the Bill to make it clear that the Board, in using this power in respect of long-term business, should ensure that policyholders' benefits were written down to 90 per cent. (or more in cases of excessive benefits) unless to do otherwise would cost them less, or at any rate no more. This was a point that your Lordships had debated at some length at Third Reading. The new clause, which was agreed with the Life Offices Association, achieves the desired effect. Amendment No. 33 simply improves the drafting of subsection (8) of Clause 16 without making any change of substance. Amendments Nos. 29 to 31 are paving Amendments for the new clause. My Lords, I beg to move.