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Pensions Bill

I declare an interest as a trustee of the Pensions Advisory Service. Clearly, this provision will expand the role of the Pensions Ombudsman if he or she is seen as the final court of appeal for any challenge to the pensions structure. First, what has happened—and what is it therefore expected will happen—to the original proposals for amalgamating the functions of the FSA and the Pensions Ombudsman? Are we now expecting to keep the Pensions Ombudsman as a separate resource? It may be that we will wait until the Thoresen determinations are finished before we decide how that pattern will emerge. Secondly, given the substantial delays at the moment in getting recourse from the Pensions Ombudsman, what additional resources will there be? What extra work does the ombudsman expect to face as a result of personal accounts? Clearly, any new scheme coming up in this way is likely to generate a degree of uncertainty and people may choose to go down that route rather than other adviser or financial advice routes to have their problems resolved. My noble friend may care to write to me at some length, because I have not given him notice of these questions. It seems to me that there is still a question mark over how this function of government will develop over the next few years. Is my noble friend in a position yet to say how the Government’s thinking is going?