Mr Chris Pond (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Gravesham, Labour)

As I have not yet had the opportunity to address you yet in this Committee, Mr. Griffiths, may I add my expression of delight to those of my hon. Friend the Minister for Pensions and of other hon. Members, that you and Mr. Cran will be shepherding us through the discussion of this important piece of legislation.

Clause 8 establishes that the regulator will have a non-executive committee, which will consist of the chairman and the other non-executive members of the regulator. The committee will have a number of specific functions that may not be delegated to any other part of the regulatory process. We have already made the point that the establishment of a non-executive committee for the regulator is consistent with the recommendations of the Higgs report, about which we have already heard much today.

As my hon. Friend the Minister of State explained earlier, we believe that the principle and purpose of a non-executive committee should apply equally to Government bodies such as the regulator.

The primary intention of having such a committee is to provide a degree of independence in overseeing the governance and strategy of the organisation. The creation of a non-executive committee, under clause 8(1), will ensure that the regulator remains efficient and accountable and makes the most appropriate use of the regulator's resources, which will be paid for by pension scheme members. That means not only that the regulation process will be designed to protect the benefits of pension scheme members, but that those responsible for the management and administration of pension schemes will be appropriately protected as well.

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