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Parliamentary Pensions

My right hon. Friend makes a good point. It is also true that many former Members of Parliament have to rely on the charitable funds that the House provides because, in the past, provision has simply not been adequate. Those who commit themselves to public service through the House are owed a debt of gratitude. We do not want to overstate that, but it is important that we should look at that issue. On the matter of retirement through ill health, it is important that we should introduce the two tiers that the trustees are calling for. That will mean that those who are permanently incapable of any work—including work in the House of Lords—would get the full pension to which they would be entitled if they were not retiring through ill health and had been able to work until the age of 65. Others, who have only a partial incapacity and who are not permanently incapable of any further work—and who might end up in the House of Lords—would receive a pension only in relation to what they had so far earned by virtue of their contributions and the Treasury contributions, but that would not be actuarially reduced by virtue of the fact that they were retiring early. It is also important that there should be regular reviews. My hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North asked the hon. Member for Bournemouth, West how many people had retired through ill health. I can tell him that the precise figure for the past 11 years is 26, so we are not talking about an enormous number of people. However, there can be a great deal of distress involved not only for the individuals concerned, but for their families. Being a Member of Parliament is an arduous job, not least because of the travel between our constituencies and the House, and if we are to do the job well, we need to throw all our energy into it, as I know all hon. Members seek to do. Finally, the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) said that this was not a Government concern. I think that there are only two regards in which it is a Government concern. The first is that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North said, the eyes of the nation are on how we make provision for our own pensions, so it behoves us at this particular time to be careful not to incur additional costs to the taxpayer. The taxpayer already makes significant contributions to the parliamentary pensions fund. Secondly, we are presented with a cost-neutral package—as I have already said, a saving of 0.4 per cent. in one direction and an additional cost, we believe, of 0.4 per cent. in the other direction.