HBOS AND FAREPAK

That this House draws attention to the pivotal role HBOS has played in the collapse of Farepak, the Christmas savings scheme, whose bankruptcy blights the Christmas of half a million decent people, many of whom have been saving since January 2006; notes that HBOS allowed Farepak to continue trading and to draw in savings averaging around £1 million a week since January; further notes that HBOS has publicly stated that its total clawing back of funds from Farepak's parent company since the start of the savings year amounts to £30 million, and that this sum of money, together with that raised by voluntary contributions, comes within striking distance of the money owed to Farepak customers who have been carefully saving all year to offset the extra costs of Christmas; further notes that in the 2005-06 financial year HBOS reported a staggering record pre-tax profit of £4.8 billion; and calls on the bank to repay the £30 million it has been able to recover from the wreckage into which half a million decent citizens have been plunged since the collapse of Farepak.