Fabian Hamilton
MP for Leeds North East · Labour · United Kingdom
“First, does the Minister believe that, in cases where the state has accepted responsibility for a failure leading to financial loss for individuals, and that loss has been calculated by it, the default position should be to provide full redress?”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Of course, this debate is about more than just money; it is about fairness, accountability and the relationship between the state and the people it is supposed to represent and protect.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For some, it has led to the loss of the family home and to depression, stress and anxiety—there are plenty of examples of that. Of course, many feel intense guilt for having invested their family savings with the most respected, the longest-standing and, supposedly, the safest pension company at the time only to see it fall apart and diss…”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government should therefore examine how the underspend could be used to bring those annuitants into the scheme. EMAG has suggested that payments could be distributed in proportion to their current annual annuity payments, avoiding the need for individual actuarial calculations.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They trusted that the regulatory system established by Parliament—I hope this addresses the hon. Gentleman’s point—would provide appropriate oversight and protect the public from serious failures in the financial services sector.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I recognise that the Minister may wish to examine or even dispute those figures and the assumptions behind them, but I think we can agree that it is in everybody’s interests that there is absolute clarity around this. I hope that the Government will provide that clarity.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of compensation for Equitable Life policyholders. It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I thank hon. and right hon. Members for attending this debate. Before I begin, I hope you will allow me to convey the apologies of a long-standing supporter of justice for Equitable Life policyholders, the right hon. Member for Goole and Pocklington (David Davis). He is sadly unable to join us this afternoon, but he has asked me to say that he has several constituents, as we all do, who remain without full redress following the collapse of Equitable Life. He asked me to mention those victims of the scandal in my speech today.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Of course, this debate is about more than just money; it is about fairness, accountability and the relationship between the state and the people it is supposed to represent and protect. It is about whether people who worked hard, saved responsibly for their retirement and trusted the regulatory safeguards established by Parliament should be left to bear the consequences of acknowledged Government and regulatory failure. My central argument is therefore straightforward: the state has accepted responsibility for serious regulatory maladministration that caused policyholders substantial financial losses, yet the majority of those policyholders received only a fraction of the compensation for their losses. That injustice remains unresolved, and I believe the Government should now take practical steps to put it right.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman—and, dare I say, my right hon. Friend. We have known each other for many, many years, and he has also been a stalwart supporter. If he and the Minister have enough patience and are able to listen to what I have to say, they will hear me offer certain ideas that I hope will be pursued, because it is about time this issue was wrapped up for good. I am grateful to all those who have continued to campaign for justice for the victims of Equitable Life and the scandal that followed, including the Equitable Members Action Group, whose work has helped to keep this issue before parliamentarians, as the right hon. Member just pointed out.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“However, approximately 895,000 other policyholders received a one-off payment amounting to just 22.4% of their acknowledged losses, barely one fifth of the compensation needed to address the losses that the Government accepted had resulted from maladministration. According to figures supplied by EMAG, those policyholders are still owed £2.6 billion before any consideration of interest. I ask the Minister to reflect on what that means in human terms. For many people, retirement savings represent decades of sacrifice. They are the savings that are put aside instead of taking holidays, improving homes or spending more freely on themselves and their children during their working life.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The ombudsman recommended that “the Government should establish and fund a compensation scheme…to put those people who have suffered a relative loss back into the position that they would have been in had maladministration not occurred.” In 2010, the Government accepted the ombudsman’s findings in full. They acknowledged losses of £4.1 billion, yet only £1.5 billion was actually allocated to compensation. That is the fundamental unfairness that the victims of this scandal want to put right. Of the policyholders affected—forgive me for all the statistics, but they are relevant—37,000 with-profits annuitants are receiving full compensation through annual payments for life: so far, so good.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The ombudsman stated that “the prudential regulation of the Society…failed comprehensively” and catastrophically, but that, crucially, it was not a failure of the regulatory system itself. It was “a failure properly to implement in the particular case of the Society the system of regulation that Parliament had enacted.” The ombudsman also made it clear that no other party could be said to be at fault, because the regulators, acting with the advice and assistance of the Government Actuary’s Department, had “acted with maladministration”. Those were not merely the complaints of disappointed investors; they were the formal findings by our independent parliamentary watchdog after a forensic and lengthy investigation.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They trusted that the regulatory system established by Parliament—I hope this addresses the hon. Gentleman’s point—would provide appropriate oversight and protect the public from serious failures in the financial services sector. However, they were let down by Government Departments and regulators that failed to do their job to an acceptable standard. Following a four-year inquiry, the parliamentary ombudsman found that policyholders’ losses were directly attributable to a decade of serious and serial regulatory maladministration. The ombudsman made 10 determinations of maladministration and five of injustice, and concluded that the serial maladministration had resulted in the true financial position of Equitable Life being concealed and misrepresented. The findings were exceptionally serious.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I think that is above my pay grade. The fact is that we all need to be vigilant to ensure that the regulators are properly regulated. I imagine that it is up to us as parliamentarians to make sure that those who are charged with regulating—or with regulating the regulators—do their job properly and prevent this kind of injustice from ever happening again. But the fact is that it has happened, and many people have suffered. Equitable Life is one of the biggest scandals in the history of UK financial services, with more than 1 million people losing a significant proportion of their hard-earned retirement savings. Those people had done what successive Governments encouraged them to do: they worked hard, saved and made provision for their later years, rather than relying entirely upon the state.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I expect most people would think there is an undeniably compelling case to provide full redress.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“For some, it has led to the loss of the family home and to depression, stress and anxiety—there are plenty of examples of that. Of course, many feel intense guilt for having invested their family savings with the most respected, the longest-standing and, supposedly, the safest pension company at the time only to see it fall apart and dissolve. The Government of the day argued that the £1.5 billion allocated for compensation was fair to both policyholders and taxpayers. Of course, public money must always be spent responsibly and the interests of taxpayers must always be considered. However, I think most people would agree that redress of just 22% of someone’s acknowledged losses is not fair—far from it—particularly when the state has accepted responsibility for losses caused by its own failures.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend, because what happened with Equitable Life meant the difference between a comfortable retirement and a struggling retirement, as his constituent, and constituents of every other Member in this room, will know full well. The moneys from investing in Equitable Life policies were intended to provide security in old age—to pay household bills, to fund care and to reduce dependence on family members and the taxpayer—but the financial losses that people suffered in very many cases, as my hon. Friend points out, fundamentally changed their retirement. It has meant struggling with everyday expenses, it has prevented planned support for children and grandchildren, and it has meant facing later life with far less independence than anticipated.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Clearly, we cannot undo what has happened, but we can decide whether to leave this long-standing injustice unresolved or to take practical steps towards putting it properly right. The Government should review the unspent compensation funds, reconsider the exclusion of the pre-1992 annuitants and set out a path towards full and fair redress. Those who lost their savings deserve more than just our sympathy. They deserve fairness and justice now through action by the Government, not more empty words.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Finally, will the Minister agree to carefully examine the possibility of including the surviving pre-September 1992 annuitants who were excluded from the compensation scheme? The victims of this scandal have waited long enough. That is why there are so many colleagues in the room today. The victims did not create the regulatory failures that damaged their retirement savings. They followed the advice to save responsibly, trusted the system established by Parliament and were let down by the institutions charged with protecting them. The Government have acknowledged the wrongdoing and losses and established a compensation scheme, but that scheme left the overwhelming majority of affected policyholders with only a small proportion of what they lost.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“First, does the Minister believe that, in cases where the state has accepted responsibility for a failure leading to financial loss for individuals, and that loss has been calculated by it, the default position should be to provide full redress? Secondly, can the Minister confirm that total cash expenditure on with-profit annuitants was forecast to be £836 million, that that figure was discounted to arrive at the £625 million allocation for those annuitants, and that actual payments to date are below forecast? Thirdly, I will be grateful if the Government will confirm whether the £100 million contingency fund remains necessary to cover the risk that with-profits annuitants live longer than expected. If that contingency is no longer required for its stated purpose, will the Minister commit to considering its use for further compensation?”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I would also suggest that further compensation would not be money spent to no positive effect—quite the opposite, in fact. Additional compensation would help people to meet the costs of care and everyday living, support their families and contribute to local businesses and communities, and I have absolutely no doubt that a significant part would return to the Exchequer through taxation, so it is not all losses. More importantly, it would give people back some of the financial security that was taken from them through failures for which the Government have accepted responsibility. I will conclude by asking the Minister to address four specific questions. I apologise for the lengthy nature of my introductory remarks, but those points had to be made.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They have also calculated the specific losses suffered by individual policyholders. When the state accepts responsibility for a mistake and identifies the financial harm caused, it should be prepared to provide proper redress. The Government should not be exempt from the principles of accountability and fairness they expect others to observe. Fuller compensation would also recognise the importance of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to our unwritten constitutional system. Independent investigations and formal findings of maladministration must surely mean something. If those findings are accepted but the recommended redress is not delivered, public confidence in the system risks being further weakened, as has already been said.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government should therefore examine how the underspend could be used to bring those annuitants into the scheme. EMAG has suggested that payments could be distributed in proportion to their current annual annuity payments, avoiding the need for individual actuarial calculations. The ex gratia payments made to them in 2013 following representations by MPs, including me, and EMAG could be offset against any additional payments, because they will be recorded. I urge the Minister to look closely at what can be done for the surviving pre-1992 annuitants—there are not that many of them. An important core principle is at stake here. The Government, on behalf of the Crown in Parliament, have accepted the ombudsman’s findings and acknowledged £4.1 billion in losses attributable to maladministration.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They have seen their annuity payments drastically reduced just as other annuitants have. The ombudsman’s findings and recommendations did not distinguish between those who had taken out annuities before and after September 1992; that distinction was a construct of the Treasury, not the ombudsman or the society. Those annuitants are, of course, among the oldest and most vulnerable victims of the scandal. Many will now be at a very advanced age, and many more have sadly died already. Every year that passes reduces the opportunity for them to receive the redress that they have long sought. Justice delayed is justice denied, but it has a particularly cruel consequence when the people waiting for it may not even live to see it delivered.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There is a group of people whose position deserves particular attention and for whom an underspend could be used: around 10,000 with-profits annuitants were excluded from the compensation scheme because they bought their annuities before September 1992. When the Equitable Life (Payments) Bill came before Parliament in 2010 and 2011, I tabled an amendment to bring those 10,000 pre-1992 with-profits annuitants into the scheme, but it was sadly lost. The argument for excluding those annuitants was that they could not have known about the true parlous state of Equitable Life at the time, but that does not take away the financial losses that they too suffered. They were affected by the same underlying regulatory maladministration and the near collapse of the society.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I recognise that the Minister may wish to examine or even dispute those figures and the assumptions behind them, but I think we can agree that it is in everybody’s interests that there is absolute clarity around this. I hope that the Government will provide that clarity. If funds have been allocated but are not needed to meet the liabilities for which they are intended, they should be used to compensate people who have still not received their full redress. Those people are already known and their losses have been calculated. There is therefore a strong case that additional payments could be administered without much cost and complexity. Releasing those funds would not address the issue of the full outstanding debt still owed, but it would be a positive step forward in this long-running saga.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“According to the figures compiled by EMAG, actual payments to with-profits annuitants were around £599 million by 30 May 2025—just over a year ago—compared with forecast expenditure of approximately £646 million. That represents a difference of £47 million. And of the £775 million allocated to other policyholders, approximately £751 million had been paid out, leaving £24 million unspent. Together with the £100 million contingency, which EMAG argues is no longer required for its stated purpose, the total underspend as of May 2025 was said to be approximately £171 million. I will make sure the Minister gets those figures later; of course, they will all be in Hansard .”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Of the £1.5 billion allocated in 2010, £625 million was assigned to compensate with-profits annuitants; £100 million was retained as a contingency against the possibility that those annuitants would live longer than expected; and £775 million was allocated to the remaining eligible policyholders. Importantly, the £625 million allocated to annuitants was a discounted figure, reflecting the value at the time of future payments. The forecast cash cost of those annual payments was £836 million through to 2050, which is still a long way ahead of us. The forecast total cash spend of the compensation scheme as a whole was £1.7 billion—I hope everybody is following these figures.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“EMAG has calculated that, as of 31 May 2025, approximately £171 million of money already allocated for compensation had been held back by the Treasury rather than being paid to policyholders. This is not new money; it is money that had already been allocated. This situation deserves serious attention. It must surely be right that at least the value of all the money actually allocated for compensation as far back as 2010—16 years ago—should reach those affected. It is important to understand the figures and what policyholders fear is the Treasury’s plan.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I certainly agree that at the heart of this matter is the issue of trust. As people throughout society lose trust in the institutions of government and the state, we will find increasing chaos and instability. Stability comes from trusting the institutions to deliver, and that trust is a two-way process. I thank him for his intervention. The principle matters, not just to Equitable Life policyholders but, as we have just been saying, to wider public confidence in Government and the regulatory institutions upon which we all rely, as we have heard. Aside from looking at full redress, I urge the Government to consider another issue.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I again thank everybody for the part they have played in today’s debate, and also EMAG for all its work. Question put and agreed to. Resolved , That this House has considered the matter of compensation for Equitable Life policyholders.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I leave Members with the thought that compensation for Equitable Life policyholders is not just something that unfortunately not been fully fulfilled. My view, which was the view of many at the time, is that compensation is a moral obligation that has never been fulfilled. It is tragic that there is no question of reopening the scheme or using the statistics—the figures—about the moneys that are left; I think the Minister has just completely contradicted the view that there is no such money left. Unlike two colleagues—the hon. Members for St Ives and for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt)—I have not had a sabbatical. Nevertheless, I and many others who have campaigned on this issue will continue to campaign until the compensation is paid in full, however unlikely that may be.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I, too, thank all hon. and right hon. Members who have taken part in the debate: the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is always direct and forthright; my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury); the hon. Members for St Ives (Andrew George) and for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope), who made excellent contributions; the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney), the Liberal Democrat spokesperson; the hon. Member for North Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller), the shadow Minister; and, of course, the Minister. I first tabled a debate on this issue in June 2009—that was the first debate on this issue in this Chamber—and other Members have been debating the issue for even longer.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“11. What steps he is taking to implement the recommendations in the Law Commission report entitled “Modernising Wills Law”, published on 16 May 2025.”
House of Commons30 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In 2018, I began my campaign to abolish the rule that stipulates that in England and Wales, remarriage revokes any previous will. It is clear that such a rule is no longer fit for purpose and opens the door to abuse—unscrupulous individuals often marry vulnerable people, enabling them to inherit their estate upon death. Will the Government now commit to accepting the Law Commission’s recommendation that that archaic rule be abolished?”
House of Commons30 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q14. I recently met bereaved constituents who lost their babies at Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust. Understandably, their confidence in the system is at an all-time low. They want answers about the circumstances in which at least 56 babies and two mothers have died in recent years. Will the Prime Minister update the House on what steps he is taking to ensure that an inquiry uncovers the factors that led to these deaths, confirm Donna Ockenden as chair of that inquiry, and join me in paying tribute to the courageous families campaigning to ensure that nobody has to suffer the same tragedy again?”
House of Commons7 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As chair of the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, I highlight the role of parliamentary diplomacy in discussing human rights issues and the excellent work of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in facilitating it. Let us continue to work together to promote respect for international human rights networks as a pathway to solutions for real-world challenges, armed conflict, marginalisation, polarisation and economic inequality.”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“According to Front Line Defenders, at least 324 human rights defenders in 32 countries were killed in 2024, with the highest numbers in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Palestine and Brazil. This year, the APPG met human rights defenders from many countries—most recently from Mexico, Cambodia, Peru, Myanmar and Belarus. International support matters and can help to protect those people. I urge consideration of mandatory supply chain due diligence to protect human rights and the environment, modelled on the UK Bribery Act 2010, creating civil liability for businesses failing to prevent such harms. Finally, parliamentarians can help to advance global respect for rights.”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Some colleagues will raise domestic concerns, but I will focus on the international dimension and its purpose for those who do not enjoy many rights in daily life. The rights framework empowers people, providing standards based on entitlement to state protection by which they can judge and call out Government actions. I want to highlight the work of human rights defenders —lawyers, journalists, activists, community workers and trade unionists—who peacefully promote and protect rights, support victims and hold perpetrators accountable. They take great risks to spotlight abuses and seek redress, facing reprisals from state and non-state actors, harassment, imprisonment, statelessness, exile, torture and, in the worst cases, disappearance and death.”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Today marks the progress of the international human rights framework, now supported by more than 60 treaties protecting vulnerable groups, including women, children and persons with disabilities. Next year, the United Nations will begin drafting a new convention on the rights of older persons—a process I hope the UK Government will fully support. I am interested to hear the Minister’s response to that. The theme of this year’s International Human Rights Day is how human rights shape and improve everyday lives. In democratic countries, rights are largely respected, which is reflected in how we live, although we can never afford complacency. It is often said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am sure we will be interrupted by a Division any minute now, but it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), and I congratulate the hon. Member for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours) on securing this debate, aptly on International Human Rights Day itself. I declare an interest: I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary human rights group. Last week, I hosted our International Human Rights Day reception, together with Amnesty International UK, which was well attended. It showed that human rights remain a priority across Parliament and among all parliamentarians.”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why our campaign has called for the implementation of Government-regulated safeguarding procedures for all banks in how they deal with LPAs and the accounts of donors.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Most of the campaign’s focus has been on the abilities of the Office of the Public Guardian and the implementation of its powers, but it is important to look at the root cause of the abuses and why they are able to occur in the first place. The abuse often begins following interactions with banks. There is no getting away from the fact that the digitisation of lasting powers of attorney processes has opened the door to abuse from a very small minority of unscrupulous individuals who have taken advantage of the ease with which an attorney can gain access to a donor’s bank accounts. The lack of legislation and duties placed on banks has resulted in an uneven implementation of safeguarding when it comes to lasting powers of attorney.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I beg to move, That this House has considered lasting power of attorney. Thank you for that introduction, Ms Vaz; it is a pleasure to speak this afternoon under your chairship. This debate has been secured at an extremely important time, as lasting powers of attorney continue to be granted across the country. Although it is clear that the vast majority of attorneys act in the best interests of the donor, there is still considerable abuse among the very small minority who do not. Since the campaign, in which I have been involved, to end the abuse of lasting powers of attorney began, I have received hundreds of testimonies from across the country in respect of vulnerable people who have had their funds stolen or used for purposes not in the interests of the donor.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They verified that the figures cited have been seen in their work on vulnerability, with the OPG admitting that approximately 65% of potential financial abuses are being disregarded simply because the donor is deemed to have capacity. Let us be clear: someone may have capacity, but that does not mean that they cannot be coerced or financially abused.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am afraid abuse is rife in a small minority of cases, and the recorded increases do not scratch the surface, given that most cases are undetected, not thoroughly investigated and not reported as often as they should be. The Office of the Public Guardian’s annual report made that clear last year. For example, there has been a 6.5% increase in the number of concerns about abuse raised with the OPG, but a slight decrease, from 34.5% to 33.9%, in the proportion leading to a full investigation. That change might seem small, but a lot of people are affected, and every individual concerned has a family, relatives and friends who are deeply concerned. Two weeks ago, alongside UK Finance, I hosted a roundtable for banks that administer lasting powers of attorney.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Member will hear later in my speech how I intend to address the issue of safeguarding, which is one of the most important parts of the process. Let us be clear that, as I said, the vast majority of lasting powers of attorney have no difficulty, problems or issues whatsoever. We need to concentrate our efforts on the small minority who cause the grief, in respect of whom people need to be safeguarded from abuse. The Government-regulated safeguarding procedures that I mentioned, in respect of all banks in dealing with LPAs and the accounts of donors, would include a requirement to contact the donor or a GP before an LPA is activated, and the monitoring of spending prior to and after its activation.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That begs the question: “What is the purpose of the OPG and why does it lack the powers to act?” One of the banks raised the example of a single individual to whom tens of LPAs were registered, but UK Finance was not aware, so no investigations took place until concerns were raised and a bank conducted a vulnerability check on the donor, by which time it was too late and the individual had already gathered the funds of several people. That case is sadly not an isolated incident.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“With the increase in dementia and with Alzheimer’s projected to rise incrementally, the hon. Gentleman is right that safeguarding needs to be far tighter. I will come on to say what I think that would involve. At our meeting, several banks highlighted clear failings in safeguarding procedures and investigations by the Office of the Public Guardian. Given that the OPG will not investigate any case in which the donor is deemed to have capacity, and that it has no powers to access the financial records of attorneys, investigations are toothless at best. The banks then face a back and forth with the OPG, as both urge the other to investigate what they claim to be a “civil matter”. Banks regularly ask the OPG whether they should act on an account that is under investigation, but are told it is up to them to decide whether to do so.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Azhar Hayat lost his life savings as a donor through the granting of a lasting power of attorney. An alleged investment of £126,000 was transferred to his attorney, with most of the funds going directly into a company of which the attorney was the sole director. Mr Hayat’s funds were then converted into shares in the attorney’s name, and he subsequently lost everything in one fell swoop. In the same year, the attorney closed the company, leaving with all the funds. That has left Mr Hayat having to seek an order for the sale of his own home in order to survive financially. The OPG took over four months to terminate the LPA, and by then, as ever, it was too late. It was only after an intervention from his Member of Parliament that Mr Hayat was able to seek to recover funds via insolvency.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Whistleblowers at the OPG have told me that no potential attorney is ever vetted, and that it is extremely easy to walk away with a signed document stating that someone is the attorney. Let me repeat that: no attorney is ever vetted. That is rather worrying. There is evidence of abusers producing fake religious documents to help them to claim they are married to people who are decades older than they are and who clearly lack capacity. Technically, that is still not against the law so, despite it being utterly immoral, there is very little that the OPG can do about it. As I have said, hundreds of cases of potential abuse have been raised with me since I introduced the Powers of Attorney Bill to Parliament last November. I will highlight some more of them now, in addition to the cases I raised last year.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is what the campaign has been arguing for since it began. The publicity given to the cases that I raised on the Floor of the House last November, when I introduced my ten-minute rule Bill, led to a large number of people bringing forward cases from up and down the country, often through their local MPs, asking to be added to the list of abuses. In total, the number of abuses may not amount to more than a fraction of a percentage of the total number of LPAs granted; nevertheless, my hon. Friend mentioned 6 million people, and I believe it is more like 8 million, and a small percentage of 8 million is still an enormous number of people. The issues go much further.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The bank asked only for an affidavit from the solicitor to ensure the capacity of the donor. Later, however, court evidence showed that the solicitor had a conflict of interest in respect of the subject and their business manager. Around the time of the bank’s involvement, the donor had received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, which had been confirmed by a CT scan nine months earlier. The donor’s deteriorating health was clear, with the LPA activated on health grounds having been actioned a year earlier. The LPA for finance was invoked following the specialist diagnosis. The donor was isolated, away from her brother, whom she had originally appointed as the attorney to protect her interests. The solicitor removed the safeguard of unanimity without advising her brother until months later, when it was far too late.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Yes, indeed. My constituency office in Leeds North East is trying to compile a list of all the cases that have come to us. Every one of them is different but they all have a common theme: unscrupulous individuals who have taken advantage of a lasting power of attorney in order to gain the donor’s funds as quickly as possible for their own nefarious purposes. That tragedy is part of the ongoing trend of the abuse of older people, which we have to stop. As parliamentarians, we have a duty to do just that. Another victim, Nicola, wrote to me to outline her family’s tragic case. Nicola is not alone when she describes the interaction between banks and prospective attorneys as “a tick box exercise”. In her case, the bank’s representative queried a change to the power of attorney that had occurred a few months earlier.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Ending this injustice for other families and vulnerable people is their driving force, and I cannot commend them enough for their selfless and committed campaigning on an issue that could impact any single one of us. I look forward to the Minister’s comments.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Attorneys should also be under an obligation to notify the donor, the bank and the public guardian that the donor lacks capacity, or is losing capacity, thereby putting that information on the public record and opening it up to challenge. I thank the Minister for meeting me earlier this year following the introduction of my Bill. I know that she takes these issues extremely seriously, and I am pleased to see her in her place. I am also grateful to the victim-survivors of this horrendous financial abuse who shared their stories with me. Each story has similar patterns, but each has its own victim who is often coerced and robbed of their life savings and assets. Finally, I am struck by the commitment of those who have reached out to me.”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗