Examination of Witnesses

Part of Pension Schemes Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:45 pm on 2 September 2025.

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Photo of Mark Garnier Mark Garnier Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury), Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Work and Pensions) 3:45, 2 September 2025

Q Michelle, you run the compensation scheme. Do you see any risk in surplus extraction? I know that by definition, it is surplus and therefore you should be able to take it out, but at the moment, a lot of funds are in surplus. We went through a period of low interest rates, where it was a bit tricky, but now interest rates have gone up, and suddenly those funds are in a lot of surplus. We are probably not going to see interest rates come down to super-low levels anytime soon—well, who knows? If the economy does particularly badly, they may well do. My first question is, do you see any increased risk as a result of this? You are presumably looking at the risk of having to pay out. Secondly, should the benchmark be slightly higher for surplus distribution?