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Pensions Bill

Perhaps we should start with the concept of the Government having a ““heart of hearts””. I reassure noble Lords that workplace personal pensions are an important and growing part of the pensions market and that where we have ended up on the issue is exactly where we wanted to be—ensuring that there can be auto-enrolment into this range of provision, just as we provide for auto-enrolment into other occupational schemes and, indeed, personal accounts. That is an important outcome. The noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, asked what this means more generally. We should be clear that what has been accepted is driven by the fact that there is an employment nexus to these arrangements. It is the employer duty that has enabled this to happen. If you consider how the directives might have operated otherwise, you see that it would be a business-consumer issue, which is why the directives are there. The employment nexus is important. It will operate from 2012, when the employer duty and its consequences take effect. I am grateful for the support of noble Lords. On Question, amendment agreed to. Clause 3, as amended, agreed to.