Pensions Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:45 pm on 7 October 2008.

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Photo of Baroness Noakes Baroness Noakes Shadow Minister, Treasury 4:45, 7 October 2008

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, and the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, for their support in speaking to my amendment. I certainly thank the Minister for what he has said. The noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, raises some important issues about the responsibility of the employer. To some degree, it is difficult for us to debate this fully because we have not seen the draft regulations under Clause 10. We might well have a better fix on what we are talking about if we have an idea of what those regulations will contain. The Minister clearly has had some discussions with his officials on the content of those regulations. My concern is that the employer should not have to do too much; he should just hand over whatever is necessary because anything else would imply that he was acquiring a duty of care which the employer would not want to take. I can see, as we unpick the layers, that it becomes ever more complicated.

I am very grateful to the Minister for offering to take this away and I look forward to debating the issue again at Third Reading, I hope with an amendment, but if not I hope that the Minister can bring some clarity on the role of employers in relation to the information regulations. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.