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Pension Protection Fund (Pension Compensation Cap) Order 2008

I start by thanking both noble Lords for their contributions and their support for these three orders, notwithstanding that that support has come with a whole raft of questions which I shall try to answer. I shall deal with as many as I can, but perhaps I may start by dealing with the last point made by the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood. The change to the administrative levy that we are dealing with is that if the levy itself does not have to change because the rate remains unchanged, there is no need to come back for an annual confirmation of it. That is the particular change being made here and it is proposed to try to maintain the levy at the present rate for a period of time. It is to avoid an entirely unnecessary process. The noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, asked about the various rates by which we change the items before us and whether we could not align them. In theory we could align them with, for example, an April figure. However, when the policy on this was developed it was felt that more recent figures would be better where there is no need to stay in line with social security policy. It is a practical matter and does not make much difference to our deliberations. He also raised the issue of Northern Rock, and it is interesting to note the ingenuity of Members opposite in introducing it at every opportunity. I should say that Northern Rock has a defined-benefit scheme, but there is no insolvency event and therefore it is not in assessment. The issue does not arise. Both noble Lords talked generally about the backdrop to the economy, in particular the international credit crunch and its ramifications for the UK economy. Obviously it impacts on growth, as the Budget Statement has made clear, but I should remind both noble Lords that we are still talking about growth in the economy. It may be less than originally forecast, but it is still growth.