Clause 35 - Registrable information
Pensions Bill
2:15 pm
Mr George Osborne (Tatton, Conservative)
This, obviously, is one of the crucial clauses about the register. The information that the Government are asking to be registered is much greater than that required by the pension scheme registry, and we welcome that. I do not mind saying that it has been good that the Government have consulted with the industry on the scheme return and that the industry—as I understand it, anyway—is broadly happy with what is being provided.
I just want to make sure that there are not any nasty surprises—but I know that the Minister is a good man and that he could not possibly be thinking of any. Subsection (2)(h) comes at the end of a long list of information that will be required, such as names, addresses, whether new members may be admitted, the categories of benefits and so on. At the very end of that list, we read:
''such other information as may be prescribed.''
That is carte blanche to ask for anything. Will the Minister explain why he needs to put it into the Bill, and who will do the prescribing? Will the regulator be able to determine what information it wants, or will it have to go to the Department for ministerial approval? Will Ministers have to get the approval of Parliament? In other words, will the issue go before Committees on delegated legislation, which provide such a rigorous check on the Executive? Subsection 2(h) caught my attention, and I wanted to flag it up.