Clause 1 - Amendment of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988
Retirement Income Reform Bill
2:15 pm
Mr John Healey (Economic Secretary, HM Treasury; Wentworth, Labour)
I pause for a moment to deal with one of two issues that are raised by the amendment. As the hon. and learned Member for Harborough said, the amendment relates to the concerns of Christian Brethren. During the Committee stage of the previous Bill—I referred to it earlier, and the current Bill is something of a replica—hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, tabled an amendment to allow a personal pension scheme to invest in a retirement failsafe fund. Again, that was done to meet the specific concerns of a group that had principled objections to annuities. The Committee accepted that amendment, but negatived another that contained a specification of a retirement failsafe fund and the conditions that it would have to meet. As a result, the Bill was defective when it left Committee. As the hon. and learned Member for Harborough explained, because that defect has not been put right, this Bill, too, is defective.
The hon. and learned Gentleman has explained how he seeks to correct the defect; and the Christian Brethren are now in discussion, but with the Revenue rather than the Treasury, because the Government recognise their concerns.