S.C.A.
Amendment Paper as at
Thursday 18th April 2002
STANDING COMMITTEE A
STATE PENSION CREDIT BILL [LORDS]
NOTE
The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the Committee of 16th April.
Clause No. 2 (Guarantee credit).Amendment (No. 14) proposed, in page 2, line 24 to leave out subsection (6).—(Mr Tim Boswell.)Question proposed, That the Amendment be made.
Steve Webb
3
Clause 2, page 2, line 26, at end insert—
'(6A) Such regulations may not apply to hospital in-patients.'.
Steve Webb
1
Clause 3, page 2, line 42, leave out 'age of 65' and insert 'qualifying age'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
15
Clause 3, page 3, line 4, at end insert 'or, in a case where such income falls short, on account of inadequate contributions to attain a full retirement pension, then the qualifying income may be increased by regulation to take into account the extent to which such shortfall was unavoidable by the claimant.'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
21
Clause 3, page 3, line 7, at end insert—
'(2A) The Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year 2004-05 and as soon as practicable after the end of each year thereafter lay before Parliament a report setting out—
| (a) | the number of persons with a withdrawal rate of 100 per cent. in respect of income beneath the savings credit threshold, and |
| (b) | the total value of the income concerned.'. |
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
25
Clause 3, page 3, line 25, leave out subsection (6).
Steve Webb
2
Clause 3, page 3, line 26, at end insert—
'(6A) In the case of men aged under 65, such regulations shall provide that the calculation of qualifying income shall include an amount equal to the amount of retirement pension that the claimant has accrued at the time of the claim.'.
Steve Webb
4
Clause 3, page 3, line 26, at end insert—
'(6A) For the purpose of calculating entitlement to a savings credit, the amount of qualifying income shall be increased for claimants with earnings by an amount to be prescribed in regulations.'.
As an Amendment to Steve Webb's proposed Amendment (No. 4) (Clause 3, page 3, line 26):
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
(a)
Line 3, at end insert ', provided always that such increase shall not be less than the hourly rate of the national minimum wage for adults for the number of hours worked by that claimant.'.
Steve Webb
5
Clause 3, page 3, line 26, at end insert—
'(6A) Such regulations shall provide that, in the calculation of qualifying income, a claimant may substitute for his actual rate of retirement pension an amount equal to the rate of retirement pension that the claimant would have been entitled to if the provisions of paragraph 5(7) of Schedule 3 to the Contributions and Benefits Act (home responsibilities protection) had been in force since the claimant attained the age of 16.'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
23
Clause 3, page 3, line 33, leave out subsection (8).
Steve Webb
6
Clause 3, page 3, line 34, at end add—
'(9) Regulations shall provide that any entitlement to savings credit shall be wholly disregarded by local authority social services departments when assessing entitlement to assistance with the costs of residential care.'.
Steve Webb
7
Clause 3, page 3, line 34, at end add—
'(9) The Secretary of State shall issue guidance to local authority social services departments on assessment of entitlement to assistance with the costs of residential care to persons in receipt of a savings credit.'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
20
Clause 3, page 3, line 34, at end add—
'(9) The Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year 2004-05 and as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year thereafter lay before Parliament a report containing an assessment of the effect of the savings credit on the propensity of individuals to save for their retirement.'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
27
Clause 4, page 3, line 38, at end insert 'and in the event of a difference of opinion between those parties to that couple, then that person with an income profile likely to give rise to the higher amount of pension credit shall be deemed to be the claimant'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
24
Clause 4, page 3, line 43, leave out subsection (3).
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
26
Clause 5, page 4, line 4, leave out 'except in prescribed circumstances'.
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
17
Clause 19, page 13, line 26, at end insert—
Mr Ian McCartney
8
Clause 22, page 14, line 23, leave out subsection (7).
NEW CLAUSES
Advice
Steve Webb
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Regulations shall provide for the circumstances in which any individual seeking advice with regard to the state pension credit may receive that advice.
(2) Such regulations shall provide that such advice shall be—
| (a) | available on a face-to-face basis; |
| (b) | provided by a suitably qualified person; |
| (c) | available either at home in specified circumstances or else within a reasonable travelling distance of home; |
| (d) | provided within a reasonable period of time.'. |
Fraud
Mr Tim Boswell
Mr James Clappison
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'The Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year 2004-05 and as soon as practicable after the end of each year thereafter lay before Parliament a report setting out—
| (a) | the extent of fraud in state pension credit claims; and |
| (b) | the measures he has taken to deal with fraudulent claims for state pension credit.'. |
EXTRACT FROM THE ORDER OF THE HOUSE [25TH MARCH]
Proceedings in Standing Committee
(3) Proceedings in the Standing Committee shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Tuesday 30th April.
(4) The Standing Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on which it meets.
ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [16TH APRIL]
That—
(1) during proceedings on the State Pension Credit Bill [Lords] the Standing Committee do meet when the House is sitting on Tuesdays at half-past Ten o'clock and at half-past Four o'clock and on Thursdays at half-past Nine o'clock and at half-past Two o'clock, except that on Tuesday 30th April 2002 the Committee shall not meet at half-past Ten o'clock;
(2) the proceedings to be taken on the sittings shall be as shown in the second column of the Table below and shall be taken in the order so shown;
(3) the proceedings which under paragraph (2) are to be taken on any sitting shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the time specified in the third column of the Table;
(4) paragraph (2) does not prevent proceedings being taken (in the order shown in the second column of the Table) on an earlier sitting than that provided for under paragraph (2) if previous proceedings have already been concluded.
TABLE
