I want first to put something on the record. Earlier, the hon. Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) suggested that when the Labour Government left office the tax gap was £42 billion, but the most recent HMRC figures show that in 2009-10 it was £32 billion. I think that addresses the point that he raised yesterday with my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood).
To return to issues from today’s debate, as I observed in Committee, the amendment that we moved then and the discussion on it addressed some of the most important clauses in the Bill. The Minister suggested yesterday that I could make the most unreasonable things sound reasonable. I think that today he has done a reasonably good job of putting across the Government’s view. However, I would have to say at the outset that he has not said enough to convince me not to press our amendment—he still has time to say something during the debate—and I will explain why.
As I have said, the reforms provided for in these clauses are very important. Our primary concern in tabling new clause 9 and in pressing it is to ensure that those affected have the information that they need to make an informed choice, because that is very important indeed.
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It is also relevant to recap on what the measures in the Bill would do. First, they will increase the amount that savers can access through trivial commutation, capped draw-down and flexible draw-down. Secondly, those in defined contribution pension schemes can now withdraw more money from their pensions annually, and the threshold at which wealthier savers can have unlimited access to their pension pots has been reduced. Thirdly, for schemes that allow members to take their pension via a draw-down, the capped draw-down limit has been increased from 120% of the amount of an equivalent annuity to 150%. Fourthly, the amount of guaranteed annual income that savers must have to draw down their pensions flexibly has been reduced from the current minimum of £20,000 to £12,000. So, in essence, the rules for accessing pensions have been greatly liberalised with the aim of affording savers increased choice and flexibility.
In principle, and as my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood has already said, we do not have a problem with supporting greater choice and flexibility, but we want to ensure that savers are not exploited in any way. That has been a very important principle for us from the outset. Indeed, over the past three years we have consistently advocated reform of the annuities market, and we have called for a cap on pension fund charges. Of course, it would be our view that the Government have delayed the introduction of the charge cap, and this extra year of excess charges will cost a saver with £100,000 up to £750 this year.
However, to return to the present, our primary concern now is to ensure that savers have access to the information that they need to exercise their new rights judiciously.