Superannuation Bill

May I start by expressing my gratitude to the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General for the way in which he has brought the House up to date on his discussions and negotiations, for the tone and tenor of his remarks this afternoon, and for restraining himself from repeating the history of civil service compensation since 1859? The whole House is in his debt for that. As we have said throughout all the stages of the Bill, we agree that civil service compensation is in need of reform. Indeed, we set it on its way. We now need to take account of the result of the judicial review, which tells us that what is needed is reform, but the right reform made in the right way. As we set about that exercise, and what I hope is the finalisation of our debates on the Bill this afternoon, it is incumbent on us to remember that for 500,000 civil servants—people who have given their lives to working in the public service—the Bill should not be a ““blunt instrument”” for negotiating purposes. For many people, it is about how they might keep their home, help their children through university or avert financial hardship while they have to look for a new job. The House must remember that the Bill's provisions are important and will have real-world impacts. On Report, my right hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Tessa Jowell) made it very clear that there were several areas in which we thought the Bill was not quite perfect and needed modification. The first cause of worry was what was then new clause 1. Throughout the process we have recognised the need for reform of the Superannuation Act 1972, and the High Court judgment made it very clear that there was a case for ensuring that the Government could compel a settlement and that no one union could veto changes to the civil service compensation scheme. However, the Government's ability to compel a settlement must be an activity of last resort once it is clear that common agreement cannot be reached. That was why we were not able to support new clause 1 on Report. It would have allowed the Government simply to impose changes to the scheme at any point, without consulting either the work force or representative trade unions. We are very pleased that the Minister has made substantial progress as the Bill has proceeded through both Houses. As he eloquently summarised it, the latest draft of the new clause, which stands before us as Lords amendment 1, requires a report to Parliament on the consultation that has been carried out with trade unions if there are any further reductions in future. I was particularly grateful to hear him confirm that future consultation on changes would have to be undertaken with a view to reaching agreement. That is substantial progress and we are pleased that the Government have accepted our arguments on some helpful changes. No doubt we could quibble about the details, but the thrust of the Government's changes is in the right direction. We will therefore support Lords amendments 1, 2 and 3 and the consequential Lords amendment 7.