Clause 72
Pensions Bill
10:15 am
Andrew Selous (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
Amendment No. 184 also relates to clause 73, so I hope you will not rule me out of order, Sir Nicholas, if I touch on the provisions of that clause. For the record, the explanatory note should say “probe” rather than “prove”. I entirely blame my handwriting for that mistake. The fault is all mine, not the excellent staff who assist Opposition Members in tabling amendments.
I refer to both clauses; I understand the distinction between people who work for the House authorities—some are in this room—and staff who are employed by Members of Parliament, but I want to know the position of Members’ staff. We are all small employers in our own right as Members of Parliament. There are some good aspects to that, in that we are not isolated from some of the matters that hundreds of thousands of small employers have to deal with up and down the country.
I am not arguing that we should be isolated from that or financially insulated from the provisions of this Bill. I am interested to know what the effect would be on staff employed by Members of the House of Lords and Members of the House of Commons. My amendment by implication does come to finance as well. If we are going to have take it on the chin, it will have financial implications for salary levels. I am not sure whether the Treasury would be minded to increase the grant to the House of Commons Commission so that the employer contribution could be paid.
I am not expecting the Minister to have a full answer at his fingertips but it would be useful if he could say something.