---

Pensions Bill

I add my support to the amendment. I do not think that 15,000 women and 5,000 men is a big number to handle in the totality of the complex administration that we run at the moment, so any suggestion that there is a technical block to doing this is nonsense. However, portfolio ways of existence are likely to increase as our economy is increasingly being hollowed out inthe middle. People who are not in a high-skilled organisation where they are likely to get training and other employment support, and particularly those coming out of welfare into work, often have to go through a period of portfolio employment to get that experience and training. It is actually not a bad thing and might be encouraged in some circumstances to get people out of the habit of benefit dependency. The portfolio type of existence in the labour market will probably become more prevalent and we should take that into account. I do not think that the Government can with any justification say that it is too complicated to do that. I agree with the noble Baroness that the way of getting round the question of who should pay the employee’s contribution is to use a credit and let the employee pay the contribution, if that is the way to get them into the contributory system. I think that that would be beneficial to everyone. There is more to the amendment thancan be dismissed simply by saying that it is too complicated or too technical.