Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

98

Pensions Bill, continued

This amendment amends clause 10(1) to include the clauses on postponement of automatic enrol­

ment, the jobholder’s right to opt out, automatic re-enrolment and workers without qualifying

earnings (New Clause 8). Regulations under clause 10(1) may require some employers to start dis­

charging their duties under the Chapter before others.

Mr Mike O’Brien

138

Clause  10,  page  5,  line  28,  leave out subsection (2).

Member’s explanatory statement

This Amendment is related to New Clauses 6 and 7, Subsection (2) of Clause 10 will be replaced

by those Clauses.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

17

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  4,  leave out ‘wages, commission, bonuses and overtime’

and insert ‘and wages’.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

18

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  11,  leave out paragraph (f).

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

19

Clause  11,  page  6,  line  11,  at end add—

‘(4)	For the purposes of scheme contributions by and on behalf of members of a

qualifying scheme other than that established by Chapter 4 of this Act,

subsections 11(1) to (3) may be disregarded if contributions are calculated and

made in relation to the individual’s basic earnings.’.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

20

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  15,  leave out subsection (2).

Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

99

Pensions Bill, continued

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

86

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  15,  leave out from first ‘in’ to end of line 16 and insert ‘the

value of the amounts in—

(a)	section 11(1)(a) are to be assessed in a way that the Secretary of State

finds appropriate and which has been approved by resolution of both

Houses of Parliament; and

(b)	section 11(1)(b) are to be in line with earnings’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that qualifying earnings are set at an appropriate level.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

21

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  17,  leave out ‘may in particular’ and insert ‘shall’.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Mr John Greenway

Miss Julie Kirkbride

73

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  17,  leave out subsection (3).

Member’s explanatory statement

See Member’s explanatory statement for Amendment 75.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Mr John Greenway

Miss Julie Kirkbride

74

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  21,  leave out subsection (4).

Member’s explanatory statement

See Member’s explanatory statement for Amendment 75.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Mr John Greenway

Miss Julie Kirkbride

75

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  24,  at end add—

‘(4A)

If the average earnings index (including bonuses) for the whole economy for

September of a year is higher than the index for the previous September, the

Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable make an order in relation to each

amount mentioned in section 11(1)(a) and (b), increasing each amount, if the new

index is higher, by the same percentage as the amount of the increase of the

index.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

100

Pensions Bill, continued

This amendment seeks to provde greater certainty regarding the methods by which the qualifying

earnings band is uprated annually.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

87

Clause  12,  page  6,  line  24,  at end add—

‘(5)	The Secretary of State shall report annually on the effect of changes to the

qualifying earnings on the impact of means-tested benefits on members of the

scheme establised under section 50.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that means-tested benefits are not having an adverse

effect on those enrolled into personal accounts.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

22

Clause  13,  page  6,  line  27,  leave out from beginning to ‘twelve’ in line 28.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

2

Clause  14,  page  7,  line  9,  leave out paragraph (c).

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

88

Clause  14,  page  7,  line  10,  at end add—

‘(3)	Every employer must register their qualifying pension scheme with the

regulator.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that every employer has provided a qualifying scheme.

Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

101

Pensions Bill, continued

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

3

Clause  15,  page  7,  line  22,  leave out ‘or to provide any information’.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

4

Clause  16,  page  7,  line  33,  leave out paragraph (c).

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

5

Clause  17,  page  7,  line  40,  at end add—

‘(c)	is prescribed or is of a prescribed description and that has its main

administration elsewhere than in an EEA State.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

92

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  8,  leave out from ‘least’ to end of line 9 and insert ‘5% of

basic earnings in the pay reference period’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure compliance with the new system is not too demanding

for employers.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

89

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  17,  at end add—

‘(3)	The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for a scheme to

continue to satisfy the quality requirement notwithstanding a shortfall in the

contributions over a pay reference period if the shortfall is paid within a

prescribed period after the end of the reference period.’.

Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

102

Pensions Bill, continued

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that an employer has a certain period of time to pay

any shortfall once the comparison between payment to the exempt scheme and notional payments

to personal accounts is made.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

90

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  17,  at end add—

‘(3)    

(a)	the Secretary of State may by order approved by resolution of both House

of Parliament amend the lower limit of the employers’ contribution set

out in paragraph (1)(b) of this section.

(b)	the Secretary of State may by order approved by resolution of both

Houses of Parliament amend the lower limit of the total contribution paid

by the jobholder as the employer set out in paragraph (1)(c) of this

section.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that contribution limits can be changed without the

need for primary legislation.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

114

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  17,  at end add—

‘(3)	The Secretary of State must report annually on the extent to which employers

operating schemes defined under subsection (1) have reduced their

contributions.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that employers are not levelling down their existing

pension schemes.

Mr Mike O’Brien

139

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  17,  at end add—

‘(3)	A scheme does not fail to satisfy the quality requirement under this section merely

because the trustees or managers of the scheme may on any occasion refuse to

accept a contribution below an amount prescribed for the purposes of this section

on the grounds that it is below that amount.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The Amendment would enable money purchase occupational pension schemes to reject minor

amounts of contributions that it is not financially viable to accept, without affecting their ability to

satisfy the quality requirement. The Amendment provides for the amount that may be rejected to

be prescribed in regulations.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

93

Clause  19,  page  8,  line  35,  at end add—

Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

103

Pensions Bill, continued

‘(5)	The Secretary of State must report annually on the extent to which employers

operating schemes defined under subsection (1) have reduced their contribution.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that employers are not levelling down their existing

pension schemes.

Mr Nigel Waterson

Andrew Selous

Mr Stewart Jackson

Miss Julie Kirkbride

Mr John Greenway

23

Clause  20,  page  9,  line  4,  leave out subsection (3).

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

94

Clause  22,  page  9,  line  41,  at end add—

‘(5)	The Secretary of State must report annually on the extent to which employers

operating schemes defined under subsection (1) have reduced their contribution.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that employers are not levelling down their existing

pension schemes.

Mr Mike O’Brien

140

Clause  24,  page  10,  line  28,  at end add—

‘(8)	A scheme does not fail to satisfy the quality requirement under this section merely

because the trustees or managers of the scheme may on any occasion refuse to

accept a contribution below an amount prescribed for the purposes of this section

on the grounds that it is below that amount.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

The Amendment would enable personal pension schemes to reject minor amounts of contributions

that it is not financially viable to accept, without affecting their ability to satisfy the quality re­

quirement. The Amendment provides for the amount that may be rejected to be prescribed in reg­

ulations.

Mr Mike O’Brien

126

Clause  26,  page  11,  line  2,  leave out ‘jobholder’ and insert ‘person’.

Public Bill Committee: 22nd January 2008

104

Pensions Bill, continued

Member’s explanatory statement

This and amendments 128, 129 and 130 are related to New Clause 8 and enable wages to be de­

ducted by employers for the purposes of paying a worker’s pension contributions in the case of a

worker without qualifying earnings who opts in to pension savings.

Mr Mike O’Brien

127

Clause  26,  page  11,  line  2,  leave out third ‘a’ and insert ‘an occupational pension’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment is related to amendment 128. It preserves the position that clause 26 only applies

to occupational pension schemes.

Mr Mike O’Brien

128

Clause  26,  page  11,  line  3,  leave out ‘or 6(3)’ and insert ‘, 6(3) or [Workers without

qualifying earnings](2)’.

Member’s explanatory statement

See Member’s explanatory statement for amendment 126.

Mr Mike O’Brien

129

Clause  26,  page  11,  line  3,  leave out ‘jobholder’s’ and insert ‘person’s’.

Member’s explanatory statement

See Member’s explanatory statement for amendment 126.

Mr Mike O’Brien

130

Clause  26,  page  11,  line  4,  leave out ‘jobholder’s’ and insert ‘person’s’.

Member’s explanatory statement

See Member’s explanatory statement for amendment 126.

Mr Mike O’Brien

131

Clause  27,  page  11,  line  15,  after ‘9’ insert ‘and [Workers without qualifying

earnings]’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment is related to New Clause 8 and is for the purpose of extending the compliance re­

gime to the duty imposed by that New Clause in relation to workers without qualifying earnings.

Mr Mike O’Brien

132

Clause  27,  page  11,  line  15,  at end add—

‘( )	In relation to section [Workers without qualifying earnings] this Chapter applies

as if references to a jobholder included references to a worker to whom that

section applies.’.

Member’s explanatory statement

See Member’s explanatory statement for amendment 131.

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Revised 22 January 2008