§ Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will seek to introduce legislation to give effect to the proposals of the Page committee on the trustee savings banks;
(2) on what basis the trustee savings banks will be constituted after 1985; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneThe Trustee Savings Banks Acts 1976 and 1978 (now consolidated with earlier legislation into the 1981 Act) provided the statutory basis for an expansion of the TSBs' banking activities as recommended by the Page report. As to the constitutional structure of the TSBs, the trustee savings banks central board announced on 4 August that the 16 trustee savings banks have reached agreement on certain principles concerning their future structure and status. These principles included the need to establish clear ownership and accountability of the trustee savings bank movement by the issue, preferably to depositors, of shares in a future TSB Group plc set up under the Companies Act. This share issue will also enable additional capital to be raised to assist the TSBs to establish an adequate capital base for the maintenance and further expansion of their business.
Since that announcement the central board and the Treasury have held further discussions on the details of the central board's proposals. These discussions have covered, among other things, the timing and content of the legislation which will be necessary to put the central board's proposals into effect. In order to comply with the European Community's first credit institutions directive certain changes to the law governing trustee savings banks must be put into effect before the end of 1985.