§ Mr. Squireasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he expects to introduce legislation to amend the Building Societies Act 1962; and whether he proposes to publish a Green Paper.
§ Mr. LawsonThe Government have no immediate plans for introducing legislation to amend the Building Societes Act 1962 other than by regulations to be made later this year for the limited purpose of implementing the European Community directive relatling to deposit-taking institutions. The question of any further amending legislation and of the desirability of issuing a Green Paper will be considered thereafter.
§ Mr. Squireasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers exist for the prudential supervision of building societies; and what informal arrangement have been introduced by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies.
372W
§ Mr. LawsonUnder the Building Societies Act 1962, the Chief Registrar has various powers and functions directed to the prudential supervision of societies. In particular, I would draw my hon. Friend's attention to the function of receiving annual returns and account in the form prescribed by the Chief Registrar (sections 83 and 88) the power to impose an order to prevent a society from taking further funds (section 48); the power to require information from a society for the purposes of exercising that power (section 53); and the power to appoint an inspector or to call a special meeting (section 110). The chief registrar also has the function of designating a society as one in which trustees may invest and, should it be necessary, of removing such designation.
Among the informal arrangements introduced by the Chief Registrar are: the requirement that all societies should submit monthly statements relating to their affairs: visits to societies by members of the staff of the registry, and discussions or societies' arrangements and operations with their boards and their auditors.
§ Mr. Squireasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is satisfied with the arrangements for monitoring the growth of term shares issued by building societies.
§ Mr. LawsonThe annual returns which all societies are required to submit to the Chief Registrar and the monthly returns which they submit voluntarily contain the necessary information to enable the issue and growth of term shares to be monitored. I am satisfied that these arrangements are satisfactory.
§ Mr. Squireasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many formal disputes have been dealt with each year by the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies since the passing of the Building Societies Act 1962.
§ Mr. LawsonSince the passing of the Building Societies Act 1962 a total of 20 disputes between building societies and their members has been determined by the Chief Registrar under the provisions for the arbitration of disputes contained in the Act. In a further eight cases, disputes were referred, but were later withdrawn CT settled. The following table shows the yearly breakdown of disputes.
373W
Year Number of disputes determined Number of disputes settled or withdrawn 1962 2 None 1963 1 2 1964 None None 1965 None None 1966 None None 1967 1 None 1968 2 None 1969 None None 1970 2 None 1971 1 1 1972 2 None 1973 1 None 1974 1 2
Year Number of disputes determined Number of disputes settled or withdrawn 1975 None None 1976 2 2 1977 None None 1978 : 1 1979 2 None 1980 1 None