---

Pensions Bill

My Lords, I rise to reinforce what the noble Baroness, Lady Dean, said about the importance of a high level of disregard. Unless the disregard is set fairly high, a great many people will ask, when they retire, ““Why did I bother?””. I and others know of hard-working couples who have saved all their lives and have a pension, who live in a council house, pay their council tax and pay full rent. Next door are people who have not saved a penny, who get their council tax and rent paid and who go on holiday to the south of France, whereas the couple I know cannot afford to. We have to be careful not to penalise savings—whether for pensions or general savings—and it is vital that a disregard is set sufficiently high to encourage people to save and not be penalised when they retire. I am sorry for intervening at this point.