Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 1: 1: Clause 8, page 6, line 1, at end insert ““or in respect”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 2, 3, 6 to 9, 20, 24 to 29 and 32. We wish to ensure that the Bill is as clear and as error-free as possible before we send it back to the Commons. Therefore, as is normal at this stage, parliamentary draftsmen have suggested a number of minor and technical amendments designed to correct inconsistencies and improve drafting. I will take each of the amendments in turn. On Amendment No. 1, if a jobholder opts out of pension saving under Clause 8, the jobholder and the employer get their contributions refunded. As drafted, the wording suggests that the regulations on refunds made under Clause 8(2)(b) should deal only with ““jobholder”” contributions. The amendment is intended to make clear that the clause covers employer and employee contributions and brings the drafting into line with other clauses that refer to contributions. Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 are designed to clarify the drafting of the clause that introduces the test scheme standard for defined benefit schemes. The amendments confirm that the terms ““such persons”” and ““J”” refer to scheme members. On Amendment No. 6, Clause 37(3) allows the Secretary of State to make regulations about the way in which the regulator can estimate the amount of contributions that an employer has failed to pay. Amendment No. 6 is intended to make clear that regulations can be made covering how the regulator can estimate contributions paid by the employer on behalf of the worker, as well as contributions paid on the employer’s account in respect of that worker. The amendment will also bring parity with Clause 38(2), where the same terms are used. On Amendments Nos. 7, 8 and 9, Clause 60 currently gives the regulator power to inspect employers’ premises where it has reason to believe that documents relevant to the administration of a qualifying scheme are being kept. However, an employer’s scheme would not be a qualifying scheme in relation to workers without qualifying earnings under Clause 9. It is also possible that an employer might declare his pension scheme to be a qualifying scheme when, in fact, it does not satisfy the requirements as set out in Clause 16. Amendments Nos. 7, 8 and 9 replace the reference to a ““qualifying scheme”” with a reference to a, "““pension scheme that is relevant to the discharge of those duties””," of the employer, and will therefore ensure that the regulator’s powers of inspection would apply in all relevant circumstances. Amendment No. 20 amends the interpretation clause for Part 1 to make clear that people without qualifying earnings who opt into a workplace personal pension under Clause 9 are active members of their scheme, just as jobholders who opt in are active members. I shall now speak to Amendments Nos. 24 to 29 and 32. The amendments to Clauses 132 and 133 clarify two things. First, any conditions associated with the purchase of additional voluntary class 3 national insurance contributions under Clause 132 must be prescribed in regulations by the Treasury. Secondly, the clause requires that an eligible person must have 20 qualifying years or 20 full years of home responsibilities protection in order to buy the additional contributions. This amendment clarifies that we are referring to a qualifying year for the purposes of entitlement to certain social security benefits. The amendment to Clause 146 clarifies that an order is not required for the commencement of the extension to the rules on the purchase of voluntary class 3 national insurance contributions. The right to buy additional years for eligible people will take effect automatically on 6 April 2009, and this is specified in the Bill at Clause 146(4). I hope that noble Lords will agree that these amendments are straightforward but necessary to ensure that the Bill leaves this House in the best state possible. I beg to move.