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Financial Assistance Scheme (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2009

My Lords, I am happy to follow the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, again. I welcome these regulations. The Minister is right to be careful in the way in which he explains the changes from the Dispatch Box; although the regulations are technical, they have a dramatic effect on some of the pensions to which they relate. The scheme that the Government laid out in December 2007 has been improved and these regulations improve it further, which is welcome. The consultation referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, was interesting, though; most people ended up by simply complaining that the Government had not gone far enough fast enough. Maybe that is why the consultation lasted only for six weeks, not 12; maybe the Government just thought that they would get another dose of the same if they continued the consultation for the usual period. I hope that the upcoming so-called "winter package" regulations that remain to complete this December 2007 reform will have a proper consultation attached to them and that it will take 12 weeks. One of the things that should be canvassed in the course of that consultation period is the extent to which the Government may in future be prepared to look again at the generosity or otherwise of the totality of the scheme. It is obviously an improvement and it is welcome so far as it goes, but only when the Government take the transfer assets into their control will they be able to get a proper handle on exactly what the fund has available to it. At that point, they could consider the possibility of doing even better. Although the scheme is welcome and generous so far as it goes, it does not deal with the issue to the extent that some of the people who are affected by these defaults and company collapses would like to see. We must keep that point of view at the front of our mind in considering these regulations. I would like to mention two other operational matters. There is some concern that, if the board of the Pension Protection Fund is managing these provisions, there needs to be a clear separation of responsibilities, particularly in relation to costs. I hope that the Minister will keep an eye on that. I think that this potential concern is understood, but I hope that it will be at the forefront of his mind as these matters are taken forward. I also concur with the view expressed in the consultation that targets need to be agreed when the Pension Protection Fund board runs this scheme in terms of the time taken for payment. Targets to avoid undue delays are important and I encourage the Minister and the department, in introducing these regulations, to make sure that undue delay is avoided if at all possible. In welcoming these regulations and the December 2007 package, I still think that it is open to the Government to keep the potential long-term generosity of this package under review, with the hope that, if the opportunity arises, it could be improved on even further in future.