Clause 9 - Functions exercisable by the
Pensions Bill
3:30 pm
Mr Peter Atkinson (Hexham, Conservative)
If I heard the Under-Secretary correctly, he made an extraordinary comment. He said that my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne was proposing to add an extra duty, which is correct, but he also said that it would be too costly for the non-executive committee to monitor the financial and regulatory impact of its decisions. That is extraordinary. The amendment proposes a light-touch duty; it asks the committee to bear in mind the impact of its actions. To say that it will not do so on the grounds that it might be costly makes absolute nonsense of what the Minister of State said.