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Pensions Bill

I have a considerable degree of sympathy with that point. As part of the process of developing a consensus, we arrived at the ““no transfers in and no transfers out”” rule. However, I have repeatedly been told that some employees, including members of the armed forces, have quite small pension pots and that leaving them there is a hassle, so getting them into personal accounts or another scheme would be a better way. However, some of the providers of pensions, and particularly insurance-based products, have concerns about the provisions that allow transfers in, even of small pension pots. We have said that at the start, transfers will not be allowed into personal accounts. However, we will review the situation in 2015, with a view to ensuring that we look at the matter again. My personal view, which is not reflected in the Bill because it is not part of the consensus, and we have reached an agreement, is that it should be possible to transfer in small pension pots, because it will just be a hassle if that cannot happen. There is no such provision in this Bill, but there will be a review in due course, and at that point, I hope that the practice will be allowed.