House of Commons Amendments

Session 2013 - 14
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

25

House of Commons

Thursday 4 July 2013

Public Bill Committee

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Pensions Bill

Note

The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the

Committee [25 June].

Gregg McClymont

6

Clause  20,  page  10,  line  12,  at end add—

‘(5)
A review of overseas residents’ up-rating entitlement shall be conducted on a

cross-departmental basis within six months of Royal Assent to this Act. It shall

consider in particular whether the savings attributable to non-entitlement could be

more effectively made in other areas of health and social care, and whether there

are potential economic benefits to uprating the pensions entitlements of overseas

residents in line with UK-resident pensioner’s entitlements. The review shall

report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and a copy of the report

shall be laid before Parliament.’.

Gregg McClymont

16

Clause  24,  page  11,  line  37,  at end insert ‘but may only do so with the consent of

the employee trustees.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 July 2013
26

Pensions Bill, continued

Gregg McClymont

7

Clause  26,  page  13,  line  33,  leave out ‘person or’ and insert ‘panel of’.

Gregg McClymont

8

Clause  26,  page  13,  line  35,  at end insert—

‘(5A)
The panel shall include—

(a)
representatives of the party or parties in opposition at the time;

(b)
representatives of trade unions; and

(c)
representatives of the House of Lords cross-benches.

(5B)
The panel shall take evidence by way of evidence sessions to be held in public. It

shall have power to determine its own terms of reference for evidence taking,

which may include matters such as disparities in lifespan and life expectancy

between sectors of the population.’.

Steve Webb

1

Clause  27,  page  14,  line  11,  after ‘dies,’ insert—

‘( )
the person is ordinarily resident in Great Britain, or a specified territory,

when the spouse or civil partner dies,’.

Steve Webb

2

Clause  27,  page  14,  line  13,  leave out ‘Regulations are to’ and insert ‘The

Secretary of State must by regulations’.

Steve Webb

3

Clause  27,  page  14,  line  26,  at end insert—

‘“specified territory” means a territory specified in regulations made by the

Secretary of State.’.

Gregg McClymont

9

Clause  29,  page  15,  line  18,  at end insert ‘and which meets the quality

requirements set out by the Secretary of State in regulations.’.

Gregg McClymont

17


Clause  29,  page  15,  line  19,  leave out ‘of which the person is an active member.’.

Gregg McClymont

10

Clause  29,  page  15,  line  21,  at end insert ‘and to set out quality requirements in

Public Bill Committee: 4 July 2013
27

Pensions Bill, continued

relation to such accounts.’.

Gregg McClymont

11

Schedule  16,  page  88,  line  34,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘shall’.

Gregg McClymont

12

Schedule  16,  page  88,  line  38,  at end insert—

‘(c)
other aspects relating to the quality and good standing of the scheme.’.

Gregg McClymont

13

Schedule  16,  page  90,  line  20,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
The regulations must provide for quality req uirements in relation to governance,

administration and other relevant matters relating to the quality and good standing

of the merged account.’.

Gregg McClymont

14

Clause  34,  page  18,  line  16,  at end insert—

‘(5)
Regulations under this section shall be made only for the purposes of resolving

inconsistencies and/or making technical adjustments and may not be made to

achieve substantive changes in policy. In particular, they shall not be made to

exempt entire classes of business or businesses, such as small and medium-sized

businesses, from automatic enrolment.

(6)
Regulations under this section shall be laid before and approved by resolution of

both Houses of Parliament.’.

Gregg McClymont

18


Clause  35,  page  18,  line  42,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
For the purposes of section 16, the definition of qualifying schemes shall include

schemes in relation to which at the date of Royal Assent there are deferred

members; “deferred members” meaning members whose benefits are for any

reason subject to deferral.

(3B)
In this section “administration charges” shall be defined in regulations by the

Secretary of State after public consultation and taking advice from the Financial

Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator to ensure that the definition takes

into consideration the Financial Conduct Authority’s definition of “ongoing

charges”, and shall include annual management charges, legal fees,

administrative fees, audit fees, marketing fees, directors’ fees, regulatory fees and

other expenses.

Public Bill Committee: 4 July 2013
28

Pensions Bill, continued

(3C)
Such charges, together with any transaction charges incurred by the funds in

which qualifying schemes are invested, shall be declared to the Pensions

Regulator, which shall maintain a public register thereof. The Secretary of State

shall define “transaction costs” in regulations after public consultation and taking

advice from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Pensions Regulator. The

Secretary of State shall by regulation set the standards by which pension schemes

must declare charges and transaction costs for the purposes of the register and for

declaration to their members and their members’ employers. The standard shall

be reviewed every three years. In addition, the Secretary of State shall have power

to make regulations ordering other disclosure arrangements on charges.

(3D)
Regulations under this section shall be laid down and approved by resolution of

both Houses of Parliament.’.

Steve Webb

4

Clause  36,  page  19,  line  21,  at end insert—

‘(i)
’.

Steve Webb

5

Clause  36,  page  19,  line  22,  leave out from ‘scheme’ to ‘are’ in line 23 and insert

‘and

(ii)
all the benefits accruing in respect of his or her

membership’.

Gregg McClymont

15

Clause  45,  page  23,  line  36,  after ‘section 3’, insert ‘17(5)’.

New Clauses

Pension Protection Fund: increased compensation cap for people with long service

Steve Webb

NC9


To move the following Clause:—

‘See Schedule [Pension Protection Fund: increased compensation cap for people

with long service] for amendments increasing the Pension Protection Fund

compensation cap for people with long pensionable service.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 July 2013
29

Pensions Bill, continued

Review in relation to women born on or after 6 April 1951

Gregg McClymont

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Government shall conduct a review to determine whether all women born

on or after 6 April 1951 should be included within the scope of the new state

pension arrangements established by this Act. Such a review shall be conducted

within six months of Royal Assent of this Act and a report thereof laid before

Parliament.’.

Review of phasing the transition of a 35-year full pension requirement via an interim

requirement of 30 years

Gregg McClymont

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Government shall conduct a review to determine the costs and benefits of

phasing the transition to a 35-year full pension requirement via an interim

requirement of 30 years. Such a review shall be conducted within six months of

Royal Assent of this Act and a report thereof laid before Parliament.’.

Review on gradual transition from certain benefit arrangements based on age.

Gregg McClymont

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In relation to women without a national insurance contribution record who relied

on a husband’s national insurance contributions and would under existing

arrangements have accrued a benefit based on such spousal contributions, the

Government shall conduct a review to determine the costs and benefits of

permitting women within 15 years of state pension age as at 6 April 2016 to retain

their accrued rights. Such a review shall be conducted within six months of Royal

Assent of this Act and a report thereof laid before Parliament.

(2)
The review shall also consider whether similar provision should be made in

relation to sections 9 and 10 of this Act.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 July 2013
30

Pensions Bill, continued

National Employment Savings Trust transfers

Gregg McClymont

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In relation to NEST, the Government must by 31 December 2013 notify the

European Commission that it wishes to lift the ban on transfers and the

contribution cap.

(2)
The Secretary of State must make a statement to Parliament within 14 days of the

Government notifying the European Commission in accordance with subsection

(1).’.

Fiduciary duty of independent trustees

Gregg McClymont

NC5

To move the following Clause:—

‘Any pension scheme which is not already overseen by independent trustees shall

be required from a date to be appointed by the Secretary of State to appoint a

board of independent trustees, the powers and duties of which shall be set out in

regulations to be laid before and approved by resolutions of both Houses of

Parliament. The board of independent trustees shall have fiduciary duty towards

members of the scheme overseen by them, which duty shall take precedence over

any duty to the shareholders in, or other owners of, the operators of the scheme.

In relation to any matters of member interest, decisions of the board of

independent trustees shall be binding on the board of directors or other analogous

management board of any undertaking operating a pension scheme.’.

Promotion of good value in scheme size

Gregg McClymont

NC6

To move the following Clause:—

‘The fiduciary duty of pension scheme trustees shall include a duty to consider

whether the scheme has sufficient scale to deliver good value for members.

Where trustees take the view that the scheme has insufficient scale, they must

consider whether merger with another scheme would be in the members’

interests. The Pensions Regulator shall have power to direct merger of pensions

schemes where it would be in the interests of the members of each of the relevant

schemes for merger to take place. The Pensions Regulator shall exercise this

power in accordance with a methodology on which it has publicly consulted and

which has been agreed with the Secretary of State. It shall keep this methodology

Public Bill Committee: 4 July 2013
31

Pensions Bill, continued

under regular review and revise it when necessary, subject to further consultation

and agreement from the Secretary of State.’.

Decumulation

Gregg McClymont

NC7

To move the following Clause:—

‘Any qualifying money purchase scheme must direct its savers to an independent

annuity brokerage service or offer such brokerage services itself. Pension

schemes shall ensure that any brokerage service selected or provided meets best

practice in terms of providing members with an assisted path through the annuity

process, ensuring access to most annuity providers, and minimising costs. The

standards meeting best practice on decumulation shall be defined by the Pensions

Regulator after public consultation, reviewed every three years, and updated, if

required, subsequent to such reviews.’.

Equal provision of survivor benefits for same-sex couples

Caroline Lucas

NC8

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
Paragraph 18 to Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010 (work: exceptions) is

amended as follows.

(2)
Omit sub-paragraph (1).’.

Review of section 29 provisions and regulations

Gregg McClymont

NC10


To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State must review the effect of section 29 and any regulations

made under it within three years of Royal Assent.’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 4 July 2013