LORDS AMENDMENT TO COMMONS AMENDMENT No. 233 (Hansard, 27 March 1980)

§ Lord M1SHCON
My Lords, I beg to move an amendment to Commons Amendment No. 233, Amendment No. 233A. This is the last time I shall burden your Lordships with any remarks of mine. I can be very brief in regard to this manuscript amendment. It deals with a situation which has to be covered by a clause in this Bill. The Bankers Act revoked the protection of the Depositors Act, because the Bankers Act had in mind that there would be licensed people who would hold deposits from the public. What was overlooked was the fact that there were people who might have deposits with a company which either did not apply for a licence, or which, having applied, didnot obtain one. Therefore, if all the provisions of the Protection of Depositors Act went, depositors with the unlicensed company would have no protection at all.
1166 Very correctly, the power which was contained in Section 17 of the Protection of Depositors Act is by retrospective action reinstated.
It is obviously necessary, as the Government have recognised, to protect such depositors. Section 18 of that Act gave very necessary powers to require the production of documents, and Section 19 gave a power of entry and search. Both powers may be very necessary in order to protect depositors in such cases. Therefore, the purpose of my amendment is merely to revive not only Section 17 of that Act but also Sections 18 and 19 as well.

§ Lord LYELL
My Lords, the manuscript amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Mishcon, would have the effect of extending the powers reserved to the department. It would include the powers of inspection and search set out in Sections 18 and 19 of the 1963 Act. But I assure the noble Lord that his amendment is unnecessary because both those sections were repealed by Schedule 3 to the 1976 Companies Act. The reason for that repeal was that the department had already been given adequate powers in this respect under Section 109 and following sections in the 1967 Companies Act. I hope the noble Lord will accept that explanation.

§ Lord MISHCON
My Lords, I have no opportunity of checking what the Minister has said, but I am quite sure that if he has said it on advice, it has been said very correctly. On that basis, I am happy to beg leave to withdraw the amendment.