Finance Bill
During a debate on the Finance Bill, Brooks Newmark raises his concerns about the abolition of a dedicated complaints service for national savings.
Mr. Newmark: The abolition of a dedicated complaints service for national savings and its placing under the voluntary jurisdiction of a financial ombudsman causes me great concern for two reasons. First and foremost, I am concerned about consumer protection and public confidence. Many investors in national savings are, in effect, widows and orphans-in other words, the most vulnerable investors in our community-yet the Government propose to get rid of a dedicated specialist complaints handler in exchange for some form of ombudsman who, in my opinion, does not have the same teeth. The Government are thereby diminishing public trust in a very important area of investments with the investor community.
Secondly, it once again looks like-and I believe that I am quoting my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond)-another case of the Government saying "do as I say, but not as I do". On the one hand, through the auspices of the Financial Services Authority, the Government foist petty compulsory rules on everyone else, but on the other hand, they try to have a weaker voluntary code of conduct for themselves. I would suggest to the Minister that the Government should set the same standards of probity and the same code of conduct for themselves as they expect from everyone else in the investment industry. I therefore support the amendment.
