Clause 31 - Appointments by Regulator
Pensions Bill
11:00 am
Professor Steve Webb (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Work & Pensions; Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
The amendments raise the important issue of who meets the costs of some of the regulatory burdens. The hon. Member for Tatton said that the employer might not be culpable, as indeed he might not; but he might be. The amendments would remove the power of the regulator to apply any cost, in whole or in part, to the employer. I think that essentially the hon. Gentleman was saying that it should not necessarily always be the employer who pays the whole amount; however, it does not follow that the employer should never pay any of it. For that reason I would not support amendments Nos. 185 and 186.