Clause 5 - Earnings trigger for automatic enrolment and re-enrolment

Part of Pensions Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:15 pm on 12 July 2011.

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Photo of Steve Webb Steve Webb The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions 12:15, 12 July 2011

Since the election, I have discussed pension reform—including some of these measures—with Baroness Drake and John Hills, although not with Lord Turner who, as the hon. Lady will understand, has one or two other things on his plate. The hon. Lady will know the views of Baroness Drake, who is a Member of the other House and speaks on behalf of the Labour party in another place. I have the greatest respect for Baroness Drake and her expertise in these matters, but unsurprisingly her emphasis—perhaps reflecting a trade union background, I do not know—falls more on the side of the individual consumer and I understand that.

These issues need balance, but we did not hear anything about the other side of the balance from the hon. Lady, and there was nothing about the burden on the firm that has to administer these matters. The Government have introduced a three-year moratorium on regulation for all small firms because of the crucial importance of those small firms to recovery from the recession. To design an amendment that, if it did what she intended it to do, would put a lot of burden on small firms, seems to miss an important part of the debate.