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Occupational Pensions

I congratulate the Chairman of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright), on the Committee’s report and his opening speech, which clearly set out the case for the prosecution. All contributors to the debate so far have considered how we hold the Executive to account in this place. It is reassuring to know that at least one of the Select Committees on which the House relies is doing its job effectively. The hon. Member for Cannock Chase, who is an independent-minded and effective Chairman, deserves some credit for that because the nature of Select Committees depends much on the individuals who chair them. It is a telling achievement to have produced such a critical report on a cross-party, unanimous basis. The Chairman of the Select Committee began his comments by paying tribute to the ombudsman and her hard work. I should like to do that on behalf of my party. I also pay tribute to those of all parties who have campaigned hard inside and outside Parliament on behalf of those affected by the loss of occupational pensions in the past few years. That applies not least to Ros Altmann, who has been a strong and powerful voice outside the House, and several Liberal Democrat Members, including my hon. Friends the Members for Chesterfield (Paul Holmes) and for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow), both of whom are present. The debate is important for three reasons. The first is the most obvious. As the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson) reminded us, the problem affects 120,000 or 125,000 people, who have lost savings that, in many cases, they built up over many years. As the hon. Gentleman also said, the debate is important because the Government’s handling of the matter will have a great impact on people’s confidence in saving in future. On Tuesday, the Minister for Pensions Reform will launch a White Paper on personal accounts and he will try to persuade individuals who have not been saving for their retirement to do so in future. But he seems to be launching that policy in a hole-ridden boat, because confidence in pensions has been eroded by a number of developments in the past few years. It has undoubtedly been eroded by what has happened to these occupational pensions and, most significantly, by the way in which the Government appear to have walked away from their responsibilities to the 125,000 pensioners involved. A further reason for this brief debate today being so important was touched on by the hon. Member for Cannock Chase and by the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young); it is also central to the Select Committee’s report. It is that the way in which the Government have handled this matter is directly relevant to the role and credibility of the ombudsman process. We heard today how there has been only a small number of occasions—perhaps four or five, since the ombudsman service was established—on which Governments have ignored the conclusions of an ombudsman’s report. In her evidence to the Select Committee the ombudsman expressed her serious concern about the way in which the Government had decided to treat her report, following a highly consultative process that led to the information that she gave to the Department for Work and Pensions.