Clause 9
Pensions Bill
1:00 pm
Andrew Selous (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
The Minister is helpfully nodding at me, so I will assume that that is the case or that it could easily be the case, although I do not wish to pre-empt anything that he might say when he replies.
Putting that to one side for a moment, the Minister may well be aware that Sir David Varney conducted a review into integrated government in late 2006. The proposal that information could be routed through HMRC to the pensions regulator was exactly the type of recommendation that he had in mind when he wrote that report. The amendment would make life a lot easier.
We should not lose sight of the extra regulatory burden, in terms of both cost and time, that will be put on employers, especially smaller ones. We all agree that this is something that should be done and that the cost is worth while for the result that we all hope to see: many millions more people with a decent pension income in retirement. It is important, however, that we do not inflict any unnecessary burdens on the economy, which is set for a slightly more problematic year.
That is the purpose behind this amendment, which arises from a recommendation made by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The institute’s members audit employers up and down the country and are very familiar with processes of transferring information. They are also well aware of the needs of employers and businesses. I hope that what I am proposing—even if not in the exact form of words used in amendment No. 136—will find favour with the Minister.