Speeches by Bell.

“I beg to move amendment 36, in clause 29, page 27, leave out lines 14 and 15. This amendment clarifies that small pots regulations may confer rights of appeal more broadly than just in relation to the refusal of an application for authorisation.”

“I thank the hon. Member for Torbay for tabling the amendment. The Government share his commitment to ensuring that the pot limit remains appropriate. As we have just heard, it is a matter of consensus, and it is good to debate how we best do that. The Government’s view is that the amendment is not necessary at this sta…”

“I thank the hon. Members for Wyre Forest and for Aberdeen North. The main question raised is about the level of the fines. To provide some context, the answer is yes—that would need to be amended by further primary legislation; there is not a power in the Bill to change that. It is an increase on previous levels of fin…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you today, Ms McVey. We recommence our consideration of the small pots part of the Bill. I thank all Members for their engagement during the sittings last week. Clause 27 is fundamental. It allows regulations to be made to create an authorisation and supervisory framework for pension sch…”

“I beg to move amendment 177, in clause 44, page 58, leave out line 2 and insert “Where only one pension benefit solution is available to the members of a relevant scheme,”. This amendment ensures that clause 44 operates in relation to qualifying pension benefit solutions as well as default pension benefit solutions.”

“I thank the hon. Member for that comment. The nature of every piece of legislation means that a future Government can take a different decision. Thanks for the reminder of the nature of British politics—that is how it operates. I am slightly more relaxed than she is, because there will be significant pressure from the …”

“I beg to move amendment 44, in clause 38, page 34, line 27, leave out “‘other than an authorised Master Trust scheme’” and insert “‘that is not a relevant Master Trust and’”. This amendment clarifies a verbal ambiguity in the amendment of section 20(1) of the Pensions Act 2008.”

“I am glad we are all thoroughly confused. Three broad approaches have been set out to this small pots problem. The first is the one that the Bill takes forward, which is the multiple default consolidation solution—the automatic sweeping up of small pots into consolidated schemes to make everyone’s lives easier. Members…”

“It was self-professed weak patriotism. But the hon. Gentleman is completely right to raise the adequacy issue, which is obviously the role of the Pensions Commission, launched in July, to take forward. He and several others are also right to say that making things easier for savers is a really important objective. That…”

“I will not speak for long. The hon. Member is absolutely right to say that defined-benefit schemes have been material buyers of gilts over a long period. The market is perhaps deeper and more robust than what some of his remarks might imply. There is a range of participants in our gilt markets. However, I take the poin…”

“Before I come to the detail of the amendment, I should re-emphasise the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth about the volume of amendments to clause 38 in particular, which is why I asked for the amended clause with track changes to be circulated to the whole Committee. I hope that Members have found t…”

“I beg to move amendment 63, in clause 38, page 37, line 11, after “requirement” insert “by reference to the main scale default arrangement” This amendment clarifies how the concept of a main scale default arrangement fits into the approval framework under section 28A.”

“I beg to move amendment 107, in clause 38, page 43, line 9, at end insert— “28CA Information (1) Regulations may make provision about information that the trustees or managers of a relevant Master Trust or the provider of a group personal pension scheme must give to the Regulatory Authority about the allocation of asse…”

“We now come to the sections of the Bill that bring in the pensions investment review measures, particularly those on setting minimum scale levels required by schemes. Before I briefly describe these amendments, I remind the Committee of the purpose of clause 38, which we will probably be discussing for a substantial pe…”

“The amendment is absolutely right that trustees should consider a wide range of options when they are developing their default pension benefit solutions. As I have just remarked to the hon. Member for Aberdeen North, I suspect that that will be a big focus for trustees and scheme managers in the years ahead. Clause 42 …”

“I thank hon. Members for their reflections. I agree with the sentiment of what everybody has put forward, including the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire—apart from his worryingly weak patriotism.”

“The clause provides the flexibility, as I have just said, to increase or decrease the threshold without requiring new primary legislation, enabling the Government to move quickly and efficiently as developments—whether it be wage growth or changes in contribution patterns—change our pensions landscape. Under the clause…”

“I beg to move amendment 209, in clause 46, page 60, line 36, leave out subsection (4). This amendment leaves out a penalty provision that government amendments to Clause 47 would make redundant.”

“Clause 47 allows for a compliance framework to be developed to ensure that trustees or managers of pension schemes comply with the requirements of chapter 5 of the Bill and take their responsibilities seriously; hon. Members will by now be used to seeing parts of this at the back of sections of pension legislation. It …”

“The direct answer is that, yes, the amendment comes from discussions with regulators, to make sure that the flow of information is sufficient to live up to Parliament’s intent and that meaningful reports on the saver and growth impacts can be provided. Amendment 107 agreed to.”