Part of Pensions Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:15 pm on 29 January 2008.
Andrew Selous
Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
4:15,
29 January 2008
I beg to move Amendment No. 145, in Clause 32, page 14, line 28, at end add—
‘(h) the Secretary of State shall have the power to apportion such amount as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate of fixed penalty notice payments for the benefit of qualifying jobholders in circumstances where their employers are unable to pay the prescribed contributions.’.
The amendment is an attempt to open up the question of where the money paid in fixed penalty notices will go. Will it all go straight into the Government’s general coffers? Will it go to the Pensions Regulator? Is there, perhaps, the possibility I am suggesting; that jobholders—either the jobholders from the employer to whom the fixed penalty notice has been issued or jobholders more generally, who could be the subject of some sort of hardship fund if their employer had gone bust and contributions were not possible—might be able to benefit from these fixed penalty notices?
There are various times in public life when money is raised by fines or penalties of one sort or another. It is not always clear to the public where that money goes, what happens to it, or for what purposes it will be used. Amendment No. 145 is worded in a very wide way. It just gives the Secretary of State a permissive power to apply such moneys raised by way of fixed penalty notices for the benefit of jobholders, should he or she see fit to do so, at any time. It does not require the Secretary of State to do anything; it is purely a permissive power. On that basis, I would commend it to the Minister.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
