Speeches by Milne.

“This is really about trying to place the Minister’s attention on this important issue—we will not press the new clause to a vote. It is about focusing the Minister’s mind on the task at hand. The undersaving groups include, but are not limited to, women, ethnic minority groups and others affected by long-term pay or pe…”

“I thank the Minister for his reply. I take his comments about trying to reduce complexity. That is a wholly good thing for all concerned, not least us. Other contributors asked, how necessary is this? Are there not services already out there, or is this not the direction of travel? Do we really need to take this action…”

“Further to the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay on the new clauses, and as the hon. Member for Aberdeen North commented earlier, pension Bills come along once in a generation, so we are taking this opportunity to bring a number of long-standing issues under scrutiny, hopefully for comment.”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 8 Independent review into pension losses incurred by former employees of AEA Technology “(1) The Secretary of State must, within three months of the passing of this Act, commission an independent review into the pension losses incurred b…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause would require the Secretary of State to commission an independent review into pension losses suffered by former employees of AEA Technology. It focuses on employees who transferred benefits from the UK Atomic Energy Authority to AEA on privatisation i…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause would have the effect of making pension scheme trustees truly independent of the sponsoring companies so that they can protect scheme members’ interests without any conflict of interest. Trustees should act solely in the best interests of their member…”

“I feel I ought also to thank everyone, and the Minister especially for a superb performance. I think we can all agree that this is a very good Bill, with lots of really good things in it. I am particularly interested in the investment side of it, with the greater resources to invest in UK plc, which we certainly do nee…”

“I thank the Minister for his words. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 98 Regulations: general Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause would require the Secretary of State to report on the Velux pensions case. It would require him to report within 12 months on how occupational pension schemes exclude certain employees based on job classification or their start date. The report would …”

“I will speak mainly to new clauses 32 and 33 in my name. There is a lot to like in the Bill, but it is at its weakest where it touches on rural areas. That is a great shame, because if we could solve transport, we could also solve the rural productivity problem. Economic inactivity is nearly two-and-a-half times higher…”

“I will speak to new clause 4 on targeted investment vehicles. Its purpose is to empower the Secretary of State to establish or facilitate targeted investment vehicles for pension funds. Overall, the pensions industry is supportive of the Bill, as are the Liberal Democrats, but some sections have expressed concern that …”

“Renewable energy schemes—particularly community energy, which I am a big fan of—are a very good addition, so we would support that.”

“To add briefly to the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay, I emphasise that with new clause 3 we are taking a non-prescriptive approach. It says that “the Secretary of State must have regard to the need to identify and mitigate barriers faced by new market entrants in the defined contribution pensions mark…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“I beg to move amendment 4, in clause 32, page 30, line 12, at end insert— “(4) The Secretary of State must, at least once every three years, review the amount for the time being specified in section 20(2) to consider whether that amount should be increased, having regard to— (a) the effectiveness, and (b) the benefit t…”

“Yes, it sounds rather unpleasant. We will think more about this subject, and I am sure we will discuss further, but I thank him for the clarification. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”

“I beg to move amendment 262, in clause 20, page 21, line 12, leave out “£1,000” and insert “£2,000”. This amendment changes the value of small pot consolidation from £1,000 to £2,000. The purpose of this amendment is to accelerate the consolidation of small, dormant pension pots and to enable more pots to be included. …”

“I rise to support what my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay said. As has been emphasised, we are not talking about making things mandatory. It is about making things possible, because there have been cases in which managers take a rather narrow view of fiduciary duty and almost deliberately exclude other considerations…”

“I thank the Minister for his reply, and I thank hon. Members for their contributions. One thing we all absolutely agree on is the importance and centrality of this issue. If there is one area in which I feel the Bill could have gone further, it is this one. It is a scary thing to look to the future and see all the tren…”

“I thank the Minister for his comments. Over the coming weeks, as he will be aware, we will be discussing several amendments that relate to the same issue. It will be interesting to see whether we can reach a satisfactory solution. In the meantime, we will press our amendment to a vote, because we feel that the issue ha…”