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Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 1: 1: Before Clause 1, insert the following new Clause— ““General objective of this Part The general objective of Part 1 of this Act is the wider availability of pensions savings opportunities and their take up by making provision for new or better ways of providing such, whilst providing for the proper and efficient administration thereof.”” The noble Lord said: Amendment No. 1 stands in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Noakes. It is some time since the House has been asked to consider a Bill as complicated as this. I expect that the Minister has spent as many hours as have my noble friend and I getting to grips with exactly what it means and understanding what it says. By the size of the file in front of him, I feel confident in making that comment; I must say that my file is modest in comparison with his. Partly because of discussions in another place and partly because of their own volition, we already have a raft of government amendments even before your Lordships have had the opportunity to discuss the details of the Bill. It almost goes without saying that we would not have the first 86 clauses—that is, Part 1 of this Bill—if the Government had not decided that this was the year to enact the proposals of the Pension Commission of the noble Lord, Lord Turner, and we would not have had the Bill at all if the arrangements for stakeholder pensions had included an employer contribution and/or automatic enrolment by law. However, we are where we are and we on this side of the Chamber will make the best fist of it that it is possible to make. I therefore start with this amendment. I said at Second Reading that the Bill has been so drafted that the rationale for it—namely, that the Government, in the shape of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, may set up a pensions scheme with all the attributes outlined in the first 57 clauses—does not become clear until Clause 58, which is nearly halfway through the Bill. I noticed the Minister glaring at me and I have taken note of what the Minister said to me at Second Reading. He said that the Bill had been drafted in this way because: "““The absolute cornerstone of the Bill is auto-enrolment, not only for personal tax, but for a whole range of provision””. [Official Report, 3/6/08; col. 121.]" None the less, I question whether we would have Part 1 at all if we were not to have personal accounts. We will not attempt to completely redraft the Bill—that is way beyond the competence of the opposition party, even with the pensions experience, both in and out of government, of many of my noble friends. We have chosen to ask the Committee to agree that we should have a statement at the beginning of the Bill that encompasses what it is all about. In recent years this has almost invariably been stated in the Long Title. This Bill, however, has both the snappiest and the vaguest Long Title that I can recall of any Bill I can recall for years. The Long Title, as your Lordships will see, merely says: "““A Bill to make provision and for connecting purposes””." This is true as far as it goes, but can hardly be described as explicit. Noble Lords may remember an old song which contains the line: "““What's it all about, Alfie?””." Despite the blandishments of the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis—who I am glad to see is in her place—during the passage of a previous Bill when I quoted from another song, I shall not sing it, either now or in private. Since there is nothing in the Long Title that gets to grips with the purposes of the Bill, a general statement of what it does is necessary. This amendment covers only the rationale of Part 1; that is, the first 86 clauses. The Committee may feel that purpose clauses should cover the whole of a Bill, but this is not so. The 2008 edition of the renowned Bennion on Statutory Interpretation tells us that a purpose clause is, "““An express statement of the legislative intention””." It goes on to say: "““It may apply to the whole or part of an Act””." I am strongly suggesting that this new clause, Amendment No. 1, be included at the beginning of the Bill. The wording is: "““The general objective of Part 1 of this Act is the wider availability of pensions saving opportunities and their take up by making provision for new or better ways of providing such, whilst proving for the efficient administration thereof””." We have chosen these words carefully to cover, not only what is currently in Part 1 of the Bill, but what we would expect to see before it completes its passage and arrives on the statute book. The basic premise is that Part 1 of this Bill follows as closely as possible the scheme set out in the second report of the Pensions Commission, which believed, as I do, that it is necessary to: "““Overcome the barriers of inertia and high cost, which deter voluntary private pension provision.””" That is exactly what this Bill will do. There are, however, concerns, of which the Minister is no doubt well aware. If not, he very soon will be. These include: the possibility that firms will close their existing workplace pension schemes in favour of the new scheme, which will be very much cheaper to administer; the auto-enrolment process; advice to workers on savings, including pension saving, but not exclusively that; regulatory burdens and excessive administrative costs on businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises; and ensuring the low cost of operation. I invite the Committee to consider the inadequacy of the Long Title and the need therefore for a purpose clause covering Part 1 at the beginning of the Bill. I beg to move.