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Proceeding contribution from Baroness Noakes (Conservative) in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 16 July 2008. It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bill on Pensions Bill.


Pensions Bill

I am grateful for what the Minister said about insolvency practitioners. I accept what he said about the difficulties of defining company doctors and turnaround specialists. But, say, a professional—these are professionals, one way or another—is put into a company by a bank, for example, where there is concern about the bank’s security and he hires someone to go in and save the business, so far as possible. That person would potentially be taking actions, or be associated with actions, which could have a detrimental effect on the pension scheme. The concern is that, unless there is some way of protecting those concerned, individuals working on that which is a healthy corporate activity—it is not insolvency, this is at the informal end, where banks, or possibly controlling shareholders, put somebody in to turn the business around—they are subject to the full range of penalties which the regulator could throw at them. The Minister mentioned clearance procedures, but I think that he answered the point himself, in that clearance procedures do not work when you are trying to deal with these fast-moving actions of turning businesses around. There is a real issue of potentially eliminating activity which is good for the economy because of fears for individuals getting caught up in this increasing net of regulated powers. Can the Minister comment on that?


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
703 c1275-6 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Compensation Company law Companies Directors Liability Insolvency Workplace pensions Pensions Pension Protection Fund Regulation Pensions Regulator
Legislation
Pensions Bill 2007-08
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk