Pensions Bill

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his comprehensive introduction to this group of amendments. I have great pleasure in supporting Amendment No. 77C and the removal of Clause 123. My noble friend Lord Lucas and I have tabled a number of amendments to the other amendments in the group. We shall not come to them just yet, but I will make some opening remarks on this area. The Minister will recall that we spent several days in July debating the Government’s amendment which inserted Clause 123. He will doubtless recall that we were critical of the Government for introducing such a wide power on the back of what we saw as a flawed consultation in the sense that there was no evidence that the Government were listening to any of the responses that they had received. There was no regulatory impact assessment, and there was wide concern among business groups that the Government simply did not understand the practical impact of their proposals. As the Minister will recall, we asked him not to press his amendment so as to enable proper negotiations during the summer. It is, however, a surprise that the Government have concluded that the amendment that they forced through in the summer, which is now Clause 123, is to be removed from the Bill. We say amen to that. I pay tribute to the Minister, his colleagues in the department and the staff of the DWP for being prepared to reopen the issues and engage in constructive dialogue with the people who have put the concerns to them. While the legislation raises issues that we will wish to probe in the remainder of our session, we are much happier with its construction—there is not the wide Henry VIII power, but a proper employer defence. We have the substance now in primary legislation; indeed, we even have a draft statutory code of practice, for which I thank the Minister. I shall not say anything further at this stage other than to thank the Minister for agreeing that we can come back at Third Reading if any points arise. The Minister will be aware that, because of late tabling, we received comments from the interested parties at a very late stage, and we cannot be sure that we have tabled amendments which allow us to tease out all the matters. I welcome the amendment.