Pensions Bill

As we are in the final stage of the debate, I should like briefly to thank my officials in the Department for all the hard work that they have put into the Bill. They have tried to maintain an open dialogue with members of the Opposition and stakeholders, and I pay tribute to their extremely hard work. They have supported not only us in this House, but my noble Friend Lord McKenzie in the other place. This final group of amendments has been introduced to strengthen the operation of the Pension Protection Fund, the financial assistance scheme and the pensions regulator. Amendments Nos. 178 to 187 and related amendments make sure that the provisions relating to the sharing of compensation on divorce, dissolution of a civil partnership or annulment work correctly. Amendments Nos. 188, 192 and 193 ensure that the Pension Protection Fund can recover costs when dealing with sharing orders. Amendment No. 260 and related amendments follow from an issue raised by my hon. Friends the Members for Preston (Mr. Hendrick) and for South Ribble (Mr. Borrow)—that of lump-sum payments of PPF compensation for the terminally ill. That was an important campaign, and I thank my hon. Friends for what they have achieved. Amendment No. 260 would allow members with future rights to PPF compensation who have a progressive disease, from which their death may reasonably be expected in the following six months, to access a lump sum equal to two years' worth of the compensation that they could expect on reaching their normal retirement age. I turn to the financial assistance scheme. Amendments Nos. 194, 196 and 217 seek to allow schemes that were not previously eligible—particularly small schemes such as that operated by Desmond and Sons—to qualify for the FAS. Government amendments Nos. 194, 196 and 217 would enable us to bring forward regulations to allow those schemes into the FAS by making exceptions to the current requirement that pension schemes must have started to wind up before 6 April 2005 to qualify for the FAS. My hon. Friend the Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan) has done a lot of campaigning on behalf of his constituents who worked for Desmond and Sons. This group also contains a number of technical amendments that allow us to protect scheme assets, for example. Amendment No. 278 relates to the anti-avoidance powers of the pensions regulator. Hon. Members will be aware that earlier this year, the Government consulted on proposals to make proportionate changes to those powers, to deal with new risks that have emerged in the market. Subsequently, the Government tabled amendments that would include a new alternative test for the regulator's power to issue contribution notices. Our stakeholders, including the CBI, the British Venture Capital Association and the National Association of Pension Funds, agree that we have made enormous progress in developing this legislation through the amendments in this group, striking the right balance between protecting members' benefits and minimising the impact on routine business. In summary, all the amendments are designed to help the PPF, the FAS and the regulator function effectively and continue to build confidence in pensions. I commend the amendments to the House.