Estimates day on Thursday, 7 December 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Tony Wright. The answering member was James Purnell.

Occupational Pensions

Winter supplementary estimates 2006-07. First estimates day (part two). Motion that, for the year ending with 31st March 2007, for expenditure by the Department for Work and Pensions— (1) further resources, not exceeding £782,539,000, be authorised for use as set out in House of Commons Paper No. 2, (2) a further sum, not exceeding £517,523,000, be granted to Her Majesty out of the Consolidated Fund, to meet the costs as so set out, and (3) limits as so set out be set on appropriations in aid. Question deferred. Resolved.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 454 c512-47
Session: 2006-07
Department: Department for Work and Pensions
Procedure: Supply estimates
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Related items: The Ombudsman in question: the Ombudsman's report on pensions and its constitutional implications. Government response to the Public Administration Select Committee sixth report of session 2005/06 (HC 1081).
Thursday, 2 November 2006
Command papers
House of Commons; Trusting in the pensions promise: government bodies and the security of final salary occupational pensions. Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration sixth report.
Tuesday, 14 March 2006
House of Commons papers
House of Commons; Estimates
Thursday, 30 November 2006
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Commons; Winter supplementary estimates and new estimates for central government. (Vote)
Tuesday, 21 November 2006
House of Commons papers
House of Commons; The Ombudsman in question: the Ombudsman's report on pensions and its constitutional implications. Public Administration Select Committee sixth report with proceedings, evidence (HC 1081 i-iii not printed seperately)and appendices.
Thursday, 20 July 2006
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons; Supplementary Estimates 2006-07
Thursday, 7 December 2006
Formal proceedings
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions: Tony Wright | 454 c518 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I thought for a moment that my hon. Friend was confusing the Pension Protection Fund with th...; Robert Flello | 454 c518 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way to me yet again. I apologise for pressing this point,...; Tony Wright | 454 c518 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. It is a basic principle of good public administration that leaflets should be of that charac...; Sally Keeble | 454 c518 (Link to this contribution) The point about the lack of protection is dealt with by the Pension Protection Fund. The issue for t...; Tony Wright | 454 c518-9 (Link to this contribution) That was very telling and memorable evidence, as was other evidence that we gathered from people dir...; Sandra Osborne | 454 c519 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work of his Committee, which has made a welcome contribution to...; Tony Wright | 454 c518 (Link to this contribution) There is a trustee responsibility, but the ombudsman explored the matter and I do not think that it ...; Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c518 (Link to this contribution) I want to reinforce that point. One of the people who came to see us was a trade unionist who was de...; Gordon Prentice | 454 c517-8 (Link to this contribution) As we are back on the subject of the accuracy of leaflets, paragraph 39 of the Committee’s report ci...; Tony Wright | 454 c517 (Link to this contribution) My argument is that the information on the leaflet matters, but only in the context of knowing that ...; Alan Simpson | 454 c525-6 (Link to this contribution) In truth, it ought not to be me speaking in this debate, but my constituent Brian Wilson, who is one...; Adrian Bailey | 454 c526 (Link to this contribution) I hope that I am not misrepresenting my hon. Friend’s argument, which is that the Government should ...; Alan Simpson | 454 c526 (Link to this contribution) I do not accept that, because the Government said, ““Your pensions are secure””, in the Pensions Act...; Robert Flello | 454 c526 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend clarify a couple of points? First, back in the mid-’90s, when legislation was in...; Alan Simpson | 454 c528 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. It is vital that the House understands the degree of cynicism that our response to the c...; Andy Reed | 454 c527-8 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Butler, a constituent of mine who has lost an £18,000-a-year pension, will not be a beneficiary ...; Alan Simpson | 454 c527 (Link to this contribution) We cannot rewrite history in retrospect in order to make it convenient for the present, when it was ...; Speaker | 454 c527 (Link to this contribution) Order. In the circumstances—we are very short of time—one will do.; Alan Simpson | 454 c527 (Link to this contribution) I am not aware of that figure, but I am aware of the bureaucracy and the tediously, grindingly slow ...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c527 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that delivering that fairly meagre sum of £1.5 million has already incur...; Tony Wright | 454 c519-20 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. The financial assistance scheme is not intended to be as generous as the Pension Protect...; Lord Young of Cookham | 454 c523-4 (Link to this contribution) The Select Committee began to query some of the estimates that the Government have given about costs...; Lord Bellingham | 454 c523 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has highlighted two important problems with the FAS: first, solvent employer sc...; Lord Young of Cookham | 454 c522-3 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) both on a compelling speech in support...; Tony Wright | 454 c521-2 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for that. When things that are said to be impossible suddenly become po...; Lord Field of Birkenhead | 454 c521 (Link to this contribution) For two years I tried to promote a private Member’s Bill that dealt with that very issue. I did not ...; Tony Wright | 454 c521 (Link to this contribution) In a moment. Members who could have retired already should receive their pensions. It is obvious th...; Lord Bellingham | 454 c521 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?; Andrew Miller | 454 c537-8 (Link to this contribution) I can tell the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) why he should not just simply accept t...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c538-9 (Link to this contribution) It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller), and...; Lord Bellingham | 454 c539 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not think it extraordinary that no one on the Government Benches mentioned the C...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c539-40 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. What is also extraordinary is how fiercely the Chancellor is resisting free...; David Burrowes | 454 c540 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree, in thinking about the Government’s response to the report by the Public A...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c540-1 (Link to this contribution) I shall come in a moment to what should happen and what the Government should be doing, if the hon. ...; Adrian Bailey | 454 c540 (Link to this contribution) In the event of the Government being unable to get a package of further support from the private sec...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c541 (Link to this contribution) The answer is very clear: it was not a cross-party early-day motion. If the hon. Gentleman, for whom...; Tony Wright | 454 c541 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman has heard, I have been critical of the Government and I agree with all who say...; Robert Goodwill | 454 c528 (Link to this contribution) I heard exactly those words from someone in my constituency who was a victim of the failed Henlys pe...; Paul Burstow | 454 c530 (Link to this contribution) When my constituents, Mr. Barrett and Mr. Sloane, who are members of the Acroelectric pension scheme...; David Laws | 454 c530-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising those points. His constituents share the view of many pe...; Alan Simpson | 454 c528-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Let me dash quickly through what I think we should be doing...; David Laws | 454 c529-30 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the Chairman of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright),...; Lord Bellingham | 454 c536-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a compelling case. He will be aware that I represent several Albert Fisher pens...; Mike Penning | 454 c535-6 (Link to this contribution) I think and hope that the Government have listened to the compelling arguments made by all the speak...; Julie Morgan | 454 c533-5 (Link to this contribution) As a member of the Public Administration Committee, I am very pleased to speak in this debate. This ...; Speaker | 454 c533 (Link to this contribution) Order. Approximately 17 minutes are left for Back-Bench contributions to the debate. Under the circu...; Mike Penning | 454 c537 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s support. So many of those people joined their companies on appren...; Robert Flello | 454 c545 (Link to this contribution) I came to the Chamber this afternoon to hear the arguments, but I have not been convinced that most,...; James Purnell | 454 c545 (Link to this contribution) It was the right level of information to provide, given the context. We are talking about introducto...; Mike Penning | 454 c546 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way?; James Purnell | 454 c545-6 (Link to this contribution) We will continue to keep the scheme under review, as is right, and if other sources were to make fur...; Lord Bellingham | 454 c545 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way?; James Purnell | 454 c544-5 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give my hon. Friend that confirmation. I think that there are some members in payment ...; Mark Todd | 454 c545 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister knows, I have some sympathy with aspects of the Government’s argument, but I have do...; James Purnell | 454 c545 (Link to this contribution) I would like to make some progress. I have very little time, so I am afraid that I will not give way...; James Purnell | 454 c546 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I must wind up my speech. I would argue that the scheme that we put in place is fa...; James Purnell | 454 c543-4 (Link to this contribution) It is not unprecedented for a Government to reject findings of maladministration. The previous Conse...; David Burrowes | 454 c543 (Link to this contribution) The Minister quotes the ombudsman, but why did he not continue the quote, which shows that it is unp...; James Purnell | 454 c543 (Link to this contribution) As I understand it, their role will be to work with the whole Government to make sure that we follow...; David Laws | 454 c543 (Link to this contribution) In the Government response to the Select Committee report, there is an indication that in future an ...; James Purnell | 454 c543 (Link to this contribution) I will try to get through as much of the material covered in the speeches as I can. If I do not cove...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c542 (Link to this contribution) In my next life, I hope to be a Liberal Democrat, as it is so much easier and any early-day motion c...; David Laws | 454 c541 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman tell us which part of the early-day motion he disagrees with? We were not co...; Baroness Ussher | 454 c544 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way because I know that time is short. He will be aware t...; Richard Burden | 454 c544 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend might recall that during Question Time on 16 October I suggested that this matter mig...; James Purnell | 454 c544 (Link to this contribution) That has not been established. I said—this continues to be the situation—that the representatives ha...; James Purnell | 454 c546 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman obviously wants to intervene, and I am happy to give way.; James Purnell | 454 c546-7 (Link to this contribution) That figure was calculated by our economists, and we have set out exactly how it was calculated. We ...; Mike Penning | 454 c546 (Link to this contribution) I have wanted to intervene for some time, but the Minister keeps giving way to his hon. Friends, rat...; Tony Wright | 454 c520 (Link to this contribution) As was pointed out earlier, what the ombudsman really said was, ““Look, it’s not my job to tell you ...; Jim Devine | 454 c517 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware of the Government’s response to the ombudsman, who has not allowed us to see...; Speaker | 454 c515 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is a courtesy to address the Chair and—more importantly, and from a practical point of vie...; Tony Wright | 454 c516-7 (Link to this contribution) Indeed it did, which is why, when the Government responded to what the ombudsman had said about thei...; Robert Flello | 454 c515 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that, Mr. Deputy Speaker; I fear that I must find a better place to sit. Even tho...; Tony Wright | 454 c515 (Link to this contribution) I was trying to say—again, this has been exhaustively analysed through the literature that was put o...; Robert Flello | 454 c515 (Link to this contribution) I wish my hon. Friend to explain something. Given that the trustee has a fiduciary duty generally to...; Adrian Bailey | 454 c515 (Link to this contribution) I have listened carefully to my hon. Friend’s arguments, but it seems to me that in order to come to...; Tony Wright | 454 c515 (Link to this contribution) I think that there has been a misunderstanding that somehow this argument is about leaflets. I have ...; Tony Wright | 454 c515-6 (Link to this contribution) Again, the evidence available to trustees has been exhaustively analysed. We took evidence from trus...; David Leslie Taylor | 454 c516 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to paint a picture of employees in the post-Maxwell era losing faith in thei...; Tony Wright | 454 c512 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to have the opportunity to introduce the recent report of the Public Administration Commit...; Lord Field of Birkenhead | 454 c512-3 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share my surprise, and that of others, at the Government’s over-reaction? In ask...; Tony Wright | 454 c513 (Link to this contribution) I was surprised and disappointed, as no doubt was the ombudsman, by the way in which her report was ...; Baroness Ussher | 454 c513 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to my hon. Friend’s comments with extreme interest and some concern. Please will he c...; Tony Wright | 454 c513 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that point, which I was going to make towards the end of my remarks, but which I w...; Mark Todd | 454 c514-5 (Link to this contribution) I am intrigued by my hon. Friend’s reference to risk. I am sure that he is right that the Government...; Andrew Miller | 454 c514 (Link to this contribution) Did my hon. Friend’s Committee probe the ombudsman on why she did not look back to the short-termist...; Tony Wright | 454 c514 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that there are many issues that provide context and background to what we are talking abou...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c514 (Link to this contribution) I did not want to interrupt the hon. Gentleman’s flow, as he is doing extremely well, but it would n...; Tony Wright | 454 c514 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to come to that point, which concerns liability and the denial on the part of Government, i...; Adrian Bailey | 454 c520 (Link to this contribution) Earlier, my hon. Friend said that there was a moderate response from the ombudsman about the financi...; Tony Wright | 454 c517 (Link to this contribution) The easiest way to agree with my hon. Friend is to cite examples of companies that operated in diffe...; Lord Bellingham | 454 c517 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a compelling and well informed case. He will be aware that I represent seve...; Tony Wright | 454 c517 (Link to this contribution) My understanding is that the ombudsman has said that, if necessary, she can supply the actuarial bas...; Andy Reed | 454 c517 (Link to this contribution) Like my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor), I have many constituent...; Nigel Waterson | 454 c540 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I remember, as a fresh-faced law student in 1968, learning about...
Subjects: Workplace pensions Pensions Ombudsman Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Health Service Commissioner
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk

Occupational Pensions

Secondary information

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