Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 7: 7: Clause 8, page 5, line 40, leave out from ““applies”” to ““(arrangements”” in line 41 and insert ““on any occasion when arrangements under section 3(2), 5(2) or 7(3) apply to a jobholder”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall speak also to the other amendments in the group. Automatic enrolment into workplace pension saving will be the new pension savings default; even so, workplace pension saving will not be compulsory. Clause 8 ensures that people who are automatically enrolled into workplace pension saving are free to opt out if they wish. A jobholder whose employer enrols them into a scheme may give notice to opt out of membership within a period to be prescribed in regulations. A valid opt-out undoes membership and gives entitlement to a refund. It is possible that a jobholder may have been an active member of the same scheme during a past period and have accrued rights in the scheme. We do not want any confusion arising that opting out affects those previously accrued rights. Any refund due following a decision to opt out is only for the current spell of membership. Without this amendment, workers could become entitled to a refund of contributions from past periods of active membership, not just the current period, which conflicts with existing law on vested rights and is likely to cause confusion. Vesting means that a pension pot is locked into invested funds and moneys cannot be refunded or paid out until decumulation. The amendment, therefore, brings greater clarity to the Bill and removes the potential scope for confusion with the vested funds. I beg to move.