Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 10: 10: Clause 66, page 36, line 24, leave out ““powers conferred by subsection (1) are”” and insert ““power to make provision in pursuance of subsection (1) is”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall speak also to the other government amendments in the group. As noble Lords will recall, during Committee, the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, successfully moved an amendment that resulted in a duty on the Secretary of State to set up the scheme, rather than providing a power to do so. There was a clear feeling in the Committee that there should be no ambiguity in the drafting. The need for clarity on such a crucial issue is understandable, which is why we will not seek to overturn that amendment. However, I want to introduce these amendments to ensure that we do not inadvertently restrict the Government's ability to make future changes to the scheme order. As I explained during Committee, the details of the scheme will be set out in the scheme order and it may be either desirable or necessary at some time in future—we are potentially looking at a long time here—to amend the scheme order. In accordance with the provisions of the Interpretation Act 1978—much maligned last time that I used that expression—we would have been able to use the power in the clause as drafted to do so. These technical amendments to Clauses 66 and 67 will ensure that the duty remains without unintentionally harming the objectives or technical workings of the Bill. Amendment No. 10 amends Clause 66(8) and will put beyond doubt that the scheme order could be amended under Section 14 of the Interpretation Act if that proves necessary. Amendments Nos. 11 to 15 then amend each of the subsections in Clause 67. The amendments will make clear that subsections (2) to (5) of that clause refer to any order under Clause 66, not just an establishing order. So they would, for example, apply to an amending order also. I hope that noble Lords will agree that, in addition to the amendment moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, in Committee, these amendments will provide absolute clarity about the duty to establish a scheme. I beg to move.