Pensions Bill

My Lords, in a previous existence, a noble friend of mine used the expression ““gobsmacked””. That probably describes my attitude at this moment. I am of course delighted with the Minister’s response to the amendment. Perhaps I may say to the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, that subsection (2) of my amendment does not preclude the Secretary of State from putting anything else that he wants into the report, and it may well be that what the noble Baroness would like to see will be very appropriate and ripe for consideration at that time—namely, five years later. I accept the Minister’s criticism that the amendment refers to the establishment of personal accounts rather than their operation. The question then is: what is meant by the ““operative date””? He said several times in Committee that the operation will be phased in, so when he puts his mind to a possible government amendment on this subject he may like to consider that point. However, as I said, I am extremely pleased with the Minister’s response and I have great delight in seeking to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Schedule 1 [The trustee corporation]: