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Pension Protection Fund
11. Gregory Barker (Bexhill and Battle) (Con): If he will make a statement on his proposed pension protection fund. [153180]
The Minister for Pensions (Malcolm Wicks): The pension protection fund will play a key role in the Government's plan of action significantly to improve protection for pension scheme members and to create greater confidence in pensions in general. For the first time ever, members of defined-benefit pension schemes based in the UK can rest assured that they will always receive a pension, even if their company goes bankrupt leaving the pension scheme underfunded.
Gregory Barker : I thank the Minister for that answer, but will he tell the House how many people have had their pension affected by company insolvency since 1997, and when these plans are actually going to be put in place? Will he also undertake to look into the case of Ballast Wiltshier—a company owned by the Dutch company Ballast Nedem—which was acquired and subsequently liquidated? As a result, a constituent of mine can now expect only a fraction of the pension that he was formerly entitled to, although the parent company is still operating profitably in the Netherlands.
Malcolm Wicks: I shall be happy to consider the details of that case and to discuss it with the hon. Gentleman. I am grateful to him for raising that important matter. The Bill will be published, as we know—[Hon. Members: "Soon?"] Very soon. Depending on the will of Parliament, we are working towards implementation of the fund and other key aspects of the provisions in the spring of next year.
Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen, South) (Lab): The new pension protection fund proposed in the "soon to come along very imminently" Bill will obviously not be retrospective. May I add my voice to those who have already asked the Government seriously to consider giving some kind of compensation to pensioners who have lost their pension entitlement as a result of the collapse of their occupational pension scheme? I have a number of such constituents who were involved in the Richards scheme, which is one of the schemes having difficulties at the moment.
Malcolm Wicks: I hear my hon. Friend's statement, but cannot add anything to what the Secretary of State and I have said. However, the Secretary of State, other colleagues and I have met some of the workers who are affected, and we have a clear understanding of the reality facing them.
Paul Holmes (Chesterfield) (LD): When the pension protection fund is introduced, hopefully in 2005, it will be welcome, but it would have been more welcome if it had been introduced as long ago as 2000, when Ros Altmann, a former Government adviser, warned of the coming crisis and urged the adoption of such a scheme. However, as we have heard, the fund offers nothing to people who lost their pension between 1997 and 2000, such as constituents of mine who worked for Chesterfield Cylinders, Dema Glass and Coalite
Products Ltd. Can the Minister not offer any hope of compensation to such people, especially those who worked in the steel industry and were compelled by the Government to make payments into their pension?
Malcolm Wicks: The Secretary of State and I have already answered those questions, and I did so again just now. We are listening to sensible suggestions, and have met concerned MPs, their constituents and affected workers. We cannot say anything at this stage because we do not want to offer false hope, but we are listening very carefully.
Return to Work
12. Ms Sally Keeble (Northampton, North) (Lab): What measures through the social security system are being taken to help mothers who want to return to work. [153181]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): We want to give parents real choices about whether to work, and we will continue to take measures to support mothers who want to return to work. Our new deal for lone parents has already helped more than 200,000 mothers into work. We are making child care affordable and accessible through the child care component of the new tax credits and the extra places created through our national child care strategy, including Sure Start and a network of children's centres, including one in my hon. Friend's constituency, offering early learning alongside child care.
Ms Keeble : I certainly welcome the measures set out by my hon. Friend, but does he accept that many single mothers with young children want to be able to get back to nursing and teaching? University College Northampton, which is in my patch, provides extremely good courses, but I receive quite a lot of complaints, because single parents cannot make the benefits from the social security and child care systems work with the student finance system. Would my hon. Friend look into that with colleagues from other Departments, to make it possible for lone parents with children to get training, particularly in nursing and teaching, so that they can get those valuable jobs?
Mr. Pond: My hon. Friend will be aware that student nurses can claim child tax credit. However, as the skills White Paper highlighted, we need to make sure that there is better co-ordination between the support provided for students and support generally for people on benefits. About 400,000 people who are receiving support through the benefits system are pursuing further education, but we recognise the need to work with our colleagues in the Department for Education and Skills to make sure that we fit the various pieces of the jigsaw together.
Private Pensions
13. Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby) (Con): If he will make a statement on private pension provision. [153182]
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith): The Government are committed to encouraging private funded provision by people who can afford to save. As set out in the document that we published last week, we want to empower individuals to take control of their retirement planning with the information that they need to make informed choices about working and saving. That is complemented by the Government's legislative programme of member protection and simplification. The Government are also committed to action, including legislation, to combat age discrimination and give people more choice about the timing and pace of their retirement.
Mr. Robathan : The Secretary of State said that the Government are encouraging private pension provision, but he will not be unaware of the decline in the value of pension funds over the past couple of years, largely due to the stock market decline. At the same time, however, as a former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, does he acknowledge that the Government played a role, because after the abolition of advance corporation tax in 1997 there was a pension fund raid, which took £35 billion out of pension funds? How will that encourage people to make private pension provision?
Mr. Smith: I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's argument. He omitted to mention that the dividend tax credit—I believe that that is what he was referring to—was part of a thoroughgoing reform of corporate taxation, which included 3p in the pound off the rate of corporation tax. Moreover, while his colleagues on the Front Bench shed many crocodile tears about this, they have made no commitment to reverse the policy.
Occupational Pensions
14. Mr. Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire) (Con): When he last met representatives of trade unions to discuss the future of occupational pension schemes. [153184]
The Minister for Pensions (Malcolm Wicks): We have frequent contacts with trade unions and other partners concerning pensions. For example, I met the general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, shortly before Christmas. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met members of the TUC last week to discuss issues concerning women and pensions.
Mr. Luff : I am glad to hear that the Government are talking to representatives of workers, such as workers affected by the collapse of company pension schemes. In those discussions with trade unions and victims of collapsed schemes such as Kalamazoo, which affected many of my constituents, would it not help us if we knew the exact cost of retrospective compensation? At Question Time a month ago, the Secretary of State said in answer to a question from my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. Hogg):
- "These are precisely the issues that the Government have been looking into. When I am in a position to report to the House on the outcome of these inquiries and deliberations, I shall of course do so."—[Official Report, 12 January 2004; Vol.416, c. 514.]
-
When will we know the cost of retrospective compensation?
Paul Flynn (Newport, West) (Lab): Why did my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State say that he is reluctant to compensate occupational pensioners retrospectively because a substantial proportion of the public are not occupational pensioners, when 100 per cent. of average families are paying £16 a week in compensation and subsidies to farmers even though 99 per cent. of them are not farmers?
Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said that that issue—that most taxpayers are probably not members of final salary schemes—is one that we must take into account in assessing the proposals that are put to us.
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