Employment Equality (Age)Regulations 2006

My Lords, I very much agree with what my noble friend Lord De Mauley said about partnerships. I shall not repeat the arguments and I shall be very brief, because an important debate follows. I declare an interest as a retired partner of the City accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. I pay tribute to officials in the DTI for constructing regulations that really amount to a Bill, with 64 provisions as well as nine schedules. I know that the procedures are essentially ““take it or leave it”” in this place, and I believe that to be unsatisfactory, but overall they have done a very effective and efficient job. However, I am concerned about the way the regulations deal with the relationships between partners. That is different from the relationship between a partnership like PWC and its employees. The relationships between partners are different, because you enter into a partnership on a voluntary basis and you normally have an equal voting right while you are a partner. Setting retirement age and setting the scale and nature of benefits to be paid post-retirement are matters for internal agreement and discussion. There is a perception in the City—certainly in the major law firms, accounting firms and surveyors—that trying to meet what has been described by the Minister as a ““stiff test”” in objectively justifying existing rules in partnerships represents an unfair burden. In the United States, employment legislation specifically excludes the relationship between partners. I think everyone in your Lordships’ House appreciates the spirit of this legislation and its main thrust, except for this specific point about partnerships. I end by asking through the Minister, as my noble friend Lord De Mauley has, that in the coming months officials consult the three main professional bodies representing law, accounting and surveying to see what their constructive comments might be in meeting the objectives of government but being fair to their contribution to the economy of this country.