Pensions Bill

I thank the Minister for his reply and for making my case when he pointed out that the existing statistics were not robust and that we did not know how the distribution of tax relief would help people, particularly in the lower deciles of income. That is exactly the point that we were making. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, for singing from the same hymn sheet as me with his point. The current distribution of pension fund tax relief is very unfair, particularly to women and low earners. To the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, I would say that we are quite open about this being our policy. We believe that we should be concentrating the help on people in lower income groups—the people who are, by and large, not saving for a pension at the moment. Most people in the higher income groups have some form of pension provision and we are trying to move towards building a consensus whereby the available help is focused more on the people who really need it. With that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 140 to 142 not moved.]