Speeches by Milne.

“I beg to move amendment 3, in clause 9, page 9, line 4, at end insert— “(e) about the proportion of any surplus that may be allocated, or the manner in which it may be determined, for the purpose of contributing to the provision of free, impartial pension advice and guidance services for scheme members.” This amendment…”

“The purpose of amendment 5 is to ensure that regulations take account of the particular circumstances of occupational pension schemes that were established before the Pensions Act 1995. There is effective discrimination against certain pre-1997 pension holders. That is a long-standing grievance and has remained unresol…”

“I beg to move amendment 5, in clause 9, page 8, line 18, at end insert— “(2AA) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2A), regulations made under that subsection must include provision that takes into account the particular circumstances of occupational pension schemes established before the coming into for…”

“I thank the Minister for his response—”

“This morning I received a letter from Kelly Mariner, the manager of an independent coffee shop in my constituency of Horsham. She said: “Since the last Budget I have been unable to hire new staff and cannot grow my business. I am spending every day doing the job I love in front of the customers, but it means I can’t de…”

“Q The DWP argues that the funds are on the public balance sheet and therefore they object to using them for this purpose. Do you think that is fair, given that the funds were not acquired by the taxpayer? Michelle Ostermann: To clarify the word “using”, as I think it is important, the PPF is an arm’s length body and th…”

“Q Is there anything you think should or could be in this Bill that would help? Patrick Heath-Lay: I completely agree with what Ian just said. The review is the right way, and we need to look at the interaction between saving rates, state pension and the general economic conditions. One thing that we were concerned abou…”

“Q Auto-enrolment is a great success story. It has certainly got lots more people investing in a pension than would have done otherwise. However, the fact remains that large numbers of them are nowhere near on course to have a reasonable pension in retirement. Small pot consolidation helps, but we have to admit that it …”

“Q Pension scheme funding ladders can go up, and they largely have done in recent years, but also they can go down. Do you think that the proposals and the framework in this Bill for surplus extraction have the right balance of risk versus actually achieving the objective? Helen Forrest Hall: From a principles basis, ye…”

“Q But would you agree that that could have very stable returns—say a 5% return for affordable housing, or for a care home—because effectively the customers are also coming via the local authority? Councillor Phillips: There is great potential in all the activities that local government can do, but the fiduciary duty is…”

“Q Earlier, you were touching on possible investments in local matters, such as affordable housing, which have a strong and desirable social benefit. Could it not be argued that there are extra interests for a local investor? Basically a council could both own the houses and effectively supply the customers via its hous…”

“Q Do you think there is evidence that fiduciary duties are not interpreted in a way that optimises outcomes for pensions savers? If so, would you support any change in legislation to help? Christopher Brooks: Yes; I think a lot of schemes do not interpret it broadly, so they probably take things literally regarding fin…”

“Q Do you think that the finance industry has a clear understanding of how to apply its fiduciary duty? Do you think the Bill makes that clearer or muddies the waters, or somewhere in between? Patrick Coyne: I think that fiduciary duty is a powerful force for good. Across the Bill, this is about giving those trustees th…”

“Q From your perspective, what would be the main obstacles or difficulties in fulfilling the value for money requirement in the Bill? Dale Critchley: From a practical perspective, producing all the data. We need clarity in the regulations and clear definitions, so that everyone is producing the same data in the same way…”

“Q Do you think that the proposed value for money framework could have the unintended effect of causing excess caution or short-termism in investment decisions? If so, what mitigations would you suggest? Zoe Alexander: There will of course be metrics in the value for money framework that look at the longer term, and loo…”

“I think you have answered all my questions already. We have tabled an amendment, and I would really appreciate your input on whether we could improve it or argue around it between now and when it is raised in Committee. Roger Sainsbury: Thank you.”

“Q So to summarise, you approve of the attempt to take control, as it were. William Wright: Absolutely. One of the huge challenges in the UK pensions debate over the past 25 or 30 years has been that we sort of knew what was not working and where corporate DB pensions were going to go, and then there was a hiatus and no…”

“Q The Bill makes the notion of using pension money for macroeconomic benefit—investment in the UK—an explicit objective. Other countries seem to have done this already. Did they do so explicitly and deliberately, or was it just an accidental outcome of good investment decisions? Did it take a conscious effort to make i…”

“Q It has been a long-standing battle over pre-1997 compensation rights. Would you agree that this Bill is perhaps an opportunity to at last address that issue, perhaps by a judicious amendment or two? Do you think that that is feasible, and what framework might that take? Michelle Ostermann: We have been progressing on…”

“I want to move on to another area: housing. This is a very important issue nationally and in my constituency of Horsham, where, as it happens, I will attend a local housing summit on affordability tomorrow, so I am hoping to pick up a couple of tips and some advice from you today. The temporary accommodation subsidy al…”