Pensions Bill

I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution. I welcome the review announced by the Government today, and I hope that it will produce the results that we need. My concern, however, is that it will not give any certainty. Amendment (a) would ensure that those who currently receive the reduced FAS level would receive 90 per cent. of their expected pension, capped at about £26,000, rather than 80 per cent. Since 1997, pensions have been index-linked, either to the retail prices index or to 2.5 per cent., whichever is the lower, rather than being index-linked only until people draw them at 65 years of age. According to what the unions have told me, they would then decline by more than a third in the first 10 years, and by more than 50 per cent. should the pensioner live to over 85 years old. Immediate benefits could be gained if we were to adopt the PPF proposals.