---

Pensions Bill

I have been listening to the debate with great interest, and of course support everything said about compulsory purchase of annuities at 75. I also understand from the description that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, gave of his amendments that there is a case for them in the light of the changing situation, with the disappearance of final salary schemes and the introduction of money purchase and so on, so that people are left with a lump sum that they have to deal with when they reach the right age. What bothers me about all this is that I am a supporter of final salary schemes; I hate to see them disappearing. Where the workers are strong enough and have enough collective pressure, in certain circumstances they have been able to retain their final salary scheme. I would hate to see anything introduced that could further encourage their disappearance. That is one reason why I have some dubiety in my mind about the amendments. Would they make the alternative to final salary schemes more attractive than it otherwise might be? I am in favour of retention—doing everything possible to retain final salary schemes in the private sector as well as the public sector.