Clause 5
Pensions Bill
9:10 am
David Laws (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Work & Pensions; Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)
The Minister knows very well that there are many ways in which to implement a citizen’s pension, including those put forward by the National Association of Pension Funds and the Pensions Policy Institute, that do not involve the type of losses about which he is concerned. However, there is a legitimate concern, which the hon. Member for Northampton, North raised, that many vulnerable pensioners such as women who might not have a full work history, whom the Government might once have intended should rely on a state second pension, will not be able to do so on one that is earnings uprated. Further problems might arise as a consequence of the extent of means-testing in personal accounts. So she has raised legitimate concerns about whether the pensions architecture that we are putting in place, without the earnings link to the state second pension, will serve those vulnerable groups. This preliminary debate has, therefore, been useful.