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Postal Services Bill [HL]

The wording of this amendment is taken from Sections 1 and 2 of the Superannuation Act 1972. These relate to Civil Service pensions—I used to be a member of that scheme, many years ago, when we had a real Post Office. There is a statutory obligation to consult the Council of Civil Service Unions in the case of Civil Service schemes and an obligation to obtain their consent before any adverse change is made to rights that are calculated on the basis of past service. Given that the new scheme will hold only past service rights, the protection that members have from adverse changes ought to be protection requiring the active consent of their representatives, as in the Civil Service, rather than an obligation to consult. That is why we have suggested the Civil Service model. There should be an obligation to consult the trades unions before any amendments are made. That is the starting point in all private sector schemes, as well as in the public sector. The obligation is contained in primary legislation for other schemes and ought to be contained in this Bill. In Committee, I mentioned several times the role of trustees and the tripartite arrangements between the employer, the unions and the trustees. They have survived the test of time and some of the agreements have lasted for so many years because of this consultation and agreement procedure. This amendment should attract the support of the Government. I beg to move.