Guarantee Credit
State Pension Credit Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Professor Steve Webb (Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
That is a very strange intervention. Clearly, as the Minister just said, pensioners are the biggest group affected by downrating, so it is not surprising that pensioner groups have been pushing the campaign. I am delighted that the Minister came to his office with the desire to do something about the issue—that is great. No pensioner group would have objected to the extension of the principle to non-pensioners, but that is not their client group, nor does such extension fall within the scope of the Bill.
The Minister says that we can amend the provisions by regulation. He may be aware that the Opposition do not have the power either to introduce regulations or to amend them when they are laid before the House—we are able only to say either yes or no. It is
the Government's job to make such amendments and I am concerned that they have failed to do so.
If the amendment were passed, we would want the principle to be extended. The Under-Secretary said, ''Ah, but what about the cost?'' She used the term ''billions'' during her speech and then she said that very few people were involved. She cannot have it both ways.