Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 35: 35: Before Clause 36, insert the following new Clause— ““Occupational pensions—transparency for employees (1) Section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) (itemised pay statement) is amended as follows. (2) After subsection (2)(b), insert— ““(ba) cost to the employer of pension contributions made or treated as made in respect of the employee during the period covered by the pay statement,””.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, we have heard much about transparency during the past few hours. The suggestion that occupational pensions information should be given on pay slips is most definitely an aid to transparency. The instructions given to new public speakers are said to include the diktat, ““Never begin with an apology””. Today I have to break that instruction—on reflection, I believe that I have not inserted this new clause into the correct part of the Bill. The Minister will probably tell me that it should more properly be in Part 2, possibly after Clause 31, but I shall leave him to make that statement in due course. Wherever it appears, the amendment would, in a small but significant way, clear the fog of confusion that surrounds pensions. It is designed to make pensions a more significant part of pay packages, something of which the noble Baroness, Lady Turner, must surely approve, given her support for the fact that pensions are deferred wages. That is something that employers can offer to potential employees as a consideration and something that employees continue to note every time they receive their pay slips. In the private sector, companies will be encouraged to offer competitive pensions and employees will appreciate the benefit to them of opting in to company schemes and contributing to their retirement. It will also point up the advantages of the new personal accounts and pay slips will clearly show where the money is going. In the public sector, it will also have a positive effect. It is not unusual to hear complaints from civil servants about low wages—indeed, we heard some of them uttered by the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, earlier today. At the moment, they are able to ignore, and possibly are not even aware of, the valuable pensions that await them—but not their private sector counterparts—upon retirement. With the pension contributions written clearly upon their payslips, employees from both the private and the public sector will be able to make a more informed and accurate assessment of the value of their pay and the rewards they receive for work. My amendment would take little effort to implement and could have a large and positive effect. I hope that the Minister will consider its benefits carefully. I beg to move.