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Pensions Bill

I do not want to deter the noble Lord from withdrawing his amendment, but it might be helpful if I deal with a couple of points that he has raised. He asked whether there are currently escalating penalties. I understand that there are not. Penalties in the Bill should not generally signal a review of the Pensions Regulator’s powers. I presume that consultation and discussion of these powers might at least butt up against that. On the argument that a system of penalties would put firms out of business, the primary aim of the compliance regime is to encourage the employer to comply. Financial penalties are only one of a number of tools to help us to achieve this. The compliance regime is designed to ensure that employers can make redress or put things right in the first instance. Penalties would only be imposed when employers continue to breach requirements after they have been told how to comply. The regulator will have some discretion on whether to enforce the payment of the penalty. In situations where the employer can demonstrate to the regulator that he is at risk of becoming insolvent if he pays the penalty, the regulator could exercise that discretion; for example, the regulator could withdraw the penalty to allow the employer to pay any outstanding contributions.