Previous Section Index Home Page


Chief Inspector of Probation

The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Mr. David Hanson): Today I am delighted to announce that the appointment of Andrew Bridges CBE as HM Chief Inspector of the National Probation Service for England and Wales has been extended until 30 September 2008. Mr.Bridges’ expertise and knowledge will continue to play a key role in enabling the probation inspectorate to deliver a credible and effective inspection programme for probation and youth offending teams.

Work and Pensions

Employment and Social Policy Ministers Meeting

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. James Plaskitt): The Employment and Social Policy informal meeting was held on 5 to 7 July in Guimarães, Portugal. I represented the UK.

The theme of the informal was “Improving Policies, Improving Results”, which was discussed in two plenary sessions. The discussions were informed by a paper presented by Maria João Rodrigues, who was involved in the formulation of the Lisbon strategy during the last Portuguese presidency.

Ministers discussed what the future priorities of the Lisbon strategy should be and how to make the Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) work better. There
17 July 2007 : Column 20WS
was broad agreement that the Lisbon goals were the right ones, and that next year’s review should avoid major changes to the strategy, as continuity was needed and would enable comparisons over time. Ministers believed that the focus should be on proper implementation and better exchange of good practice. A number of member states did call for greater prominence to be given to the social dimension of Lisbon. On behalf of the UK, I made it clear that we should not re-open the employment guidelines and that the focus should remain on jobs and growth. I also emphasised that we needed to do more to tackle skills issues as this is the key to helping people into work and ensuring their progression.

In terms of process, most felt the OMC was a success. There was broad agreement that there should be no new instruments or processes. Suggestions for areas of greater focus were: education, skills and lifelong learning; making flexicurity work; increasing labour market participation (including active ageing, work-life balance, gender equality, childcare provision); fighting child poverty; making mobility in the EU work; and tackling the social impacts of migration.

Germany also suggested a one-off “European Social Day” where, for example, Parliaments across the EU could discuss the EU’s contribution to social policies on the same day. The idea received considerable support.

The presidency concluded that the revised Lisbon process had improved the focus on employment but the meeting had highlighted the need to: have greater co-ordination of policy approaches; improve the integration and visibility of social priorities; and a balanced approach to flexicurity.

Pension Scheme Assets (Interim Report)

The Minister for Pensions Reform (Mr. Mike O'Brien): The review of Pension Scheme Assets led by Andrew Young published its interim findings yesterday on 16 July.

The review team has worked hard to gather data and engage with stakeholders and I am grateful for their efforts and the co-operation of those who have contributed. The interim findings represent a significant improvement on our understanding of the circumstances of failed pension schemes and provide us with an evidence base upon which to build policy in the future.

The Assets Review has made considerable progress in identifying the value of assets remaining in pension schemes that qualify for FAS and has stated that the current process of annuitisation on a scheme by scheme basis may not offer the best use of these assets. It concludes that it is probable that additional value for money could be secured through a number of different methods and the team will focus on investigating the feasibility of these options before it delivers its final conclusions later in the year. I welcome these interim findings and am hopeful that the work that the review team is to continue over the summer will enable us to increase the value of assistance that FAS is able to offer without further calls on public funds.

The potential for any increase will, of course, depend on the value of assets available. While it is too early to say with any certainty that the review will lead to a means of improving FAS above the promised 80 per cent. level (subject to the cap), it is hopeful that this is
17 July 2007 : Column 21WS
the case. In the meantime the Government’s position has always been (and remains) that trustees must act in the best interests of their members, but trustees may wish to take into account the effect that the decisions they take about winding up their scheme may have on the amount of assets potentially available to increase assistance levels.


17 July 2007 : Column 22WS

It is important that trustees continue with the processes of wind-up, including data cleansing and determination of asset share. They should also continue to pay interim pensions to members as they reach normal retirement age and co-operate with the Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit to ensure initial payments can be made from age 65.


    Index Home Page