Banking: National Savings & Investments

Baroness Ford Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Ford]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any plans to extend or improve the range of retail savings products offered by National Savings & Investments.

[Baroness Ford]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and declare an interest as a customer of National Savings.

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

My Lords, National Savings & Investments reviews its product range on a regular basis in light of its role to provide cost-effective retail debt finance to government. In doing so, it follows a policy of balancing the interests of its savers, the taxpayer and the wider stability of the financial services market.

[Baroness Ford]

I thank the Minister for that—albeit disappointing—reply. National Savings is probably one of the most trusted financial services brands left in the United Kingdom. The Minister knows well that all its recent issues have been massively and very quickly oversubscribed. Are the Government not missing a huge opportunity to extend the reach of National Savings to help savers and pensioners whose incomes have been absolutely hammered in the past five years due to the combination of record low interest rates and the disastrous effects of quantitative easing on annuity levels?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, the Government are very well aware of the needs of savers. Those who have done the right thing in the good times should not be penalised in these difficult times and the Government understand that. Specifically on National Savings & Investments, as I said, it keeps its product range under regular review so, of course, it looks to see when it is appropriate to bring products back in. However, it has to balance the need to deliver finance to the Government at rates that represent value for money for the taxpayer and the need not to compete unfairly in the savings market by offering products that compete with other providers in the market. The noble Baroness may look askance at that but I assure her that I get constant complaints from the retail savings market if it thinks that NS&I is using its power unfairly in the market.