§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department has any objection in principle to the Trustee Savings bank central board giving full discount on shares to the present depositors of trustee savings banks when the trustee savings banks are floated as public limited companies; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ian StewartThe Government consider that this is a matter for the TSB central board to decide, and the TSB Act 1985 makes due provision for the board to do so.
§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if any Minister or official in his Department participated in any way in the working groups established by Trustee Savings bank central board to examine matters connected with the possible flotation of trustee savings banks.
§ Mr. Ian StewartNo Treasury Minister or official has participated in working groups set up by the Trustee Savings bank central board for this purpose. The Treasury and the central board did, however, work closely in preparing the recent legislation.
§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a timetable showing the dates of formal meetings between Ministers and representatives of the Trustee Savings bank central board on the issue of floating the trustee savings banks as a public limited company.
§ Mr. Ian StewartNo.
§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if Ministers of his Department or officials ever asked the trustees of the Trustee Savings bank Scotland, in written form or verbally, if they had obtained legal opinion on who owns a trustee savings bank;
(2) when his Department was first aware that the Trustee Savings bank central board had obtained a legal opinion from John Murray QC on the question of ownership of a trustee savings bank in Scotland;
(3) if his Department has at any time since May 1979 contributed any view to any Trustee Savings bank central 868W board or subsidiary working group on the question of the correct legal handling of the produce of the trustee savings banks in the event that trustee savings banks are transformed to public limited companies;
(4) how many times (a) between April 1979 and July 1983 and (b) since July 1983 the Ministers in his Department met official representatives of the Trustee Savings banks central board;
(5) if Ministers in his Department or officials ever asked the Trustee Savings bank central board, in written form or verbally, if they had obtained legal opinion on the question, in Scottish law, of who owns a trustee savings bank;
(6) what study was made by Ministers in his Department and officials of the rules of the Trustee Savings bank, Scotland, and in particular rule 3(3) before embarking on enabling legislation aimed at the reorganisation of the trustee savings banks into a public limited company;
(7) how many times (a) between April 1979 and July 1983 and (b) since July 1983 Ministers in his Department have met trustees of the Trustee Savings bank, Scotland;
(8) how many meetings there were at official-only level between his Department and Trustee Savings bank central board members or representatives between April 1979 and July 1983; and how many meetings were held at this level between July 1983 and the present date;
(9) when his Department received a copy of the legal opinion of John Murray QC, first handed to the Trustee Savings bank central board in April 1979;
(10) when he reached the conclusion that in Scots law a trustee savings bank was not owned by its depositors; and if he will make a statement;
(11) if he has sought advice from outside the Government as to the compatibility of the flotation of trustee savings banks, as it might affect the rights of depositors, with the United Kingdom's international treaty obligations; and if he will make a statement;
(12) if at any meetings between the former Economic Secretary to the Treasury, or his successor, or himself and representatives of any body within the trustee savings bank movement, the questions of ownership of a trustee savings bank were raised; and if he will make a statement;
(13) if he will make a statement on the letter dated 27 April 1982 received by his Department from an authorised person on the Trustee savings bank central board; whose signature was on the letter; and what reference the letter made to legal opinion regarding the ownership in Scots law of a trustee savings bank;
(14) if any requests were received from any working group of the Trustee Savings bank central board or a subsidiary of the central board for Treasury or ministerial guidance or advice on questions of the ownership of a trustee savings bank or the right of any category of person or persons to the produce of a trustee savings bank; and if he will make a statement;
(15) if his Department is any way contributed to Mr. David Thorn's committee's consideration of produce, in connection with the Trustee Savings bank central board's objective to float the trustee savings banks; and if he will make a statement;
(16) if he will list the meetings between Ministers in his Department and the Trustee Savings banks central board in July 1983; and if he will state the purpose of the meetings and outline any action taken by his Department as a result.
869W(17) when his Department reached the conclusion that in the event of the flotation of the trustee savings banks there was no liability to depositors in respect of produce;
(18) if his Department received any preliminary findings of any working groups or committees of the Trustee Savings bank central board on the issues surrounding the proposition to float trustee savings banks; and if he will make a statement;
(19) if it is his practice to commission opinion from senior counsel on matters appertaining to the affairs or prospects of the Trustee Savings bank, Scotland; and if he will make a statement;
(20) if he received any representations from the Trustee Savings bank central board or the trustees of the Trustee Saving bank Scotland requesting him to obtain a legal opinion on who, in Scots law, owns a trustee Savings bank; and if he will make a statement;
(21) what monitoring functions his Department exercises in respect of the Trustee Savings bank central board's operations; and if he will make a statement;
(22) how much his Department spent from public funds in obtaining outside legal opinion on the ownership in Scots law of a trustee savings bank; who was commissioned, and when, to provide the opinion or opinions; what was the answer on ownership; and if he will cause the opinion or opinions to be placed in the Library;
(23) if his Department at any time intimated to the Trustee Savings bank central board that it was Her Majesty's Government's view that, in Scots law, depositors own a trustee savings bank; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ian StewartI regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the summer recess. Therefore, I shall write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library.