Pensions Bill

I suspect that in that case, if we are assuming a retirement age of 60, a deficiency notice would be sent out by NIRS2—assuming that the computer system was working properly—to a person of 59, telling them what their shortfall was. On that basis, the employee would be able to make an informed decision about whether they wished, needed to or would continue to pay NICs. I can see no practical problems associated with it if one has the wish to do so. Deficiency notices are sent out now; such a notice would be the basis of employees deciding whether to continue to pay NICs. If they felt they should do so, they could; if they felt it was not necessary, they need not. Either way, the employer is unaffected. As far I understand it, there is no administrative roadblock to having such a provision. I accept that there is an issue about read-across to carers who are not in the labour market so do not have an employer matching contributions. But for the person in the labour market, whom the amendment seeks to address, I see no such problem. As for the phrase ““while entitled”” in Amendment No. 3, it was chosen to suggest that there was an entitlement, as opposed to an act of drawing the basic state pension. That is because the age at which women draw the basic state pension will change over time. I did not try to pin that down in the amendment. It is simply a statement of eligibility; while a woman—or a man, come to that—might be eligible for a basic state pension, they could choose not to draw it because they are in work. They would therefore voluntarily pay a full, proper, costed stamp—which, for the rest of us, is assumed to pay our way for S2P—and, as a result, build up a decent enough record which, according to the Government’s regulatory impact assessment and the subsequent figures produced by the Minister for Pensions, would float them off means-tested benefits in the future. If we do not do things like this, some people—maybe not very many—will need means-tested benefits further down the line because they were denied a responsibility they were willing to shoulder of building up a pension in their own right. Obviously I shall withdraw the amendment at this stage; I shall reflect on the read-across to carers, but I do not really believe that my noble friend has challenged the core assumption that we are talking about somebody in work seeking to continue to build on their pension while not drawing their current pension. That case remains valid, but for the moment, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 3 not moved.]