Clause 9
Pensions Bill
1:00 pm
Paul Rowen (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
I support the comments made by the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire about the inclusion of HMRC. We all want to ensure that information is collected and made available as simply and straightforwardly as possible without being a burden to employers, especially small employers.
I want to speak primarily to amendment No. 88, which has been suggested by the TUC. I hope that it will find favour with the Government. It would ensure that all pension schemes were properly registered with the pensions regulator. Although the vast majority of employers will run excellent schemes that benefit their employees, it is a sad fact—as we have seen in relation to people with second pensions—that there has been some mis-selling and people have lost out. A very tiny proportion of employers might seek to have a scheme that does not meet the best objectives of the Bill. All we are asking is that each scheme is properly registered with the regulator.
There will obviously have to be a change to the way in which the regulator operates. I know there has been some discussion about whether the regulator or HMRC should have that role. The Government have taken the view that it should be the pensions regulator, and that body will need beefing up and to change. The amendment just seeks to ensure that registration is one of the first things to happen to a scheme. Therefore, the compliance mechanism that the pensions regulator will introduce would ensure that all employers, not just the best ones, would meet the standards that we expect.