Clause 60 - Index-linked gilt-edged securities

Part of Finance (No. 3) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:45 pm on 7 June 2011.

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Photo of David Hanson David Hanson Shadow Minister (Treasury) 4:45, 7 June 2011

I am grateful, and, in passing, can I congratulate the Minister on his 10th anniversary of becoming a Member of the House? It was a great day, with 413 Labour MPs elected on 7 June 2001. My majority was 9,000 on that day, and it has dropped considerably since then, but let us not touch on that one.

I accept what the Minister has said, but the point is that paragraph 7 of the explanatory notes for clause 60 still says that

“there is not a reliable government estimate of the number, or size, of pension schemes that are affected.”

I understand the reasoning behind it, but I am simply asking whether the Treasury has done any modelling whatever or estimated the number of pension schemes that are likely to be affected? At what stage will he monitor the impact of clause 60 in the future? I feel that, in terms of the Minister’s objectives, it would be helpful to know his assessment of the likely impact of the clause.