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Pensions Bill

I, too, would be interested to see a copy of the article. If it contains what the Minister says it does, it contradicts many of the representations that we have received, where different advice has been given. I thank the Minister for his response; I shall consider carefully what he said. I am not 100 per cent convinced that he has addressed the issue. Here we have a newly minted version of the directors’ duties, which have only just come into force, but with no reference to pensions. Alongside that, some tough potential regulatory powers are coming in which will have an impact on the way directors behave. I presume that that impact is sufficiently aligned with what the Government intended. Many of us were less than convinced that restating the directors’ duties was the right thing to do but the Government were very clear in their own mind that it needed to be done. Weeks after those duties came into effect, however, the Government are effectively creating something which is potentially in conflict. Given the different standards, working out that conflict may be difficult for directors. This applies to the issue of good faith, for example. If you asked any corporate lawyer what he would say to directors to make sure that they stayed within Section 172, good faith would be at the top of the list, as it always has been. Yet good faith will not be necessarily taken into account in future if the Government use the powers in Amendment No. 130EW as they claim they want to. I am not sure that this is the right amendment for the Bill, but nor am I sure that these important issues have been dealt with by the Minister; therefore, we may return to them, in one form or another, on Report. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment No. 130EZ, as an amendment to Amendment No. 130EW, by leave, withdrawn.