Skip to main content

1-20 of 80 results for subject:Pensions

Answering member X
Lord Hutton of Furness

Type

House

Session

Year

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

More
Hutton of Furness, Lord (80)

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

More

Publisher


Show detailed: On Off
Results: 10 20 50 100
Sort by: Newest first Oldest first

The proposal to establish personal accounts has been broadly welcomed in the House and by many others. The consultation on the detailed proposals set out in the White Paper ends on 20 March, and in the light of those responses, it is our intention to bring forward legislation in the next parliamentary Session.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
12 March 2007
Reference
458 c8
House
House of Commons
We want a value-for-money solution to implementing the proposed national pension savings scheme, and it is my view that the private sector has the appropriate expertise and experience to do that and provide a good service for the public in the process. At some point, we will obviously need to tender that work, and we will make judgments in due course. However, it is not an area in which Government have the right expertise to take the policy forward.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
12 March 2007
Reference
458 c9
House
House of Commons
My hon. Friend is right. Clearly, the lower the annual management charges and costs, the greater the return for those who are saving in the national pension saving scheme. That must be our principal objective in taking forward Lord Turner’s proposals. This, however, will be a matter for detailed consideration by the proposed personal accounts delivery authority, but I can assure my hon. Friend and the House that we will work closely with the delivery authority to make sure that this important aspect of the scheme is brought to fruition.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
12 March 2007
Reference
458 c9
House
House of Commons
Yes.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
12 March 2007
Reference
458 c8
House
House of Commons
If he will make a statement on the personal accounts White Paper.
Asked by
Richard Ottaway (Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
12 March 2007
Reference
458 c8; 126363
House
House of Commons
I am aware of my hon. Friend’s role on the Select Committee, and I remember clearly the day that I gave evidence to it. We have already published the estimates of the cost of a full compensation scheme, which we have made available to the House and outside. It would cost significantly more than the £2.5 billion that we have pledged to it. The Government have tried hard to be supportive of those who have lost the most, but we must also be mindful that we are using public resources in a compensation scheme, so we have to balance what is fair to the taxpayer with what is fair to those who have lost the most. We have tried hard to strike the right balance.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c553-4
House
House of Commons
Of course the Government—any Government—will follow the obligations imposed on them by the courts and the due legal process. There is no question of our doing otherwise. On Wednesday in the High Court we will argue our case very strongly with regard to the way in which we have responded to the ombudsman’s report. In relation to the European Court of Justice case, it is worth reminding ourselves that the case is still continuing before the High Court in England. There is therefore an obvious limitation on what I can say today about how we might respond to any subsequent ruling by the Court.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c554
House
House of Commons
We certainly look continuously at all those issues. Personally, I think that it is sensible and prudent to require annuitisation in those circumstances, because that is a sensible way of managing risk for the long term. We are giving careful consideration to the wider issues raised by the European Court of Justice ruling, and to what that will mean looking forward to the future of the financial assistance scheme and the PPF.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c555
House
House of Commons
We have made significant provision, and tried to estimate the costs as best we can. Obviously we will have to keep the costs under review, and see what happens in practice. However, I believe that we have made prudent and adequate provision for the losses that those who are closest to retirement have sustained.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c555
House
House of Commons
As I made clear in my written statement on 26 January, we are giving careful consideration to the ruling of the European Court of Justice and the implications, if any, for the financial assistance scheme and the Pension Protection Fund.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c553
House
House of Commons
What assessment he has made of the implications of the recent European Court of Justice ruling for the Government’s response to the parliamentary ombudsman’s report ““Trusting in the Pensions Promise””.
Asked by
Robert Goodwill (Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c553; 118073
House
House of Commons
No, that is not true. This is a serious issue, and I do not think that the hon. Gentleman’s latter point was a serious contribution to the proceedings. We have put nearly £2.5 billion into the financial assistance scheme to provide taxpayers’ money to compensate those who have lost the most when their occupational pension schemes have collapsed owing to employer insolvency. That is not an insignificant response; it is an extremely positive response. It is worth bearing in mind that there were no such public funds available to support people who were caught up in these terrible situations before 2004. In relation to the Henlys scheme, in which I understand the hon. Gentleman has a constituency interest, I can tell him and the House that 38 members of the Henlys scheme have been assessed for support by the financial assistance scheme, and 32 of them are now in payment.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c553
House
House of Commons
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her words of support in relation to the actions that we have taken—but it is simply not true that we have ignored the ombudsman’s report as she suggested. We produced an extra £2 billion-worth of public money to go into the financial assistance scheme after the ombudsman produced her report, so I do not believe it is right to say that we have ignored the ombudsman’s report. We have the greatest respect for the office of the ombudsman and we had the advantage of seeing her report in draft some considerable time before it was published. I can assure my hon. Friend, and every Member of the House, that we have given it the fullest and most careful consideration.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
5 February 2007
Reference
456 c554
House
House of Commons
The pensions White Paper set out a series of measures that will increase the number of women qualifying for a full basic state pension, including reducing the number of qualifying years, introducing a new carers credit for those caring for at least 20 hours a week and moving to a more generous system of weekly credits. As a result, we estimate that around 70 per cent. of women reaching pension age in 2010 will be entitled to a full basic state pension instead of about 30 per cent., as now.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
10 July 2006
Reference
448 c1099
House
House of Commons
The injustice that many women have experienced with the basic state pension needs a proper solution and we have proposed one. Lord Turner proposed a series of changes, which would also have taken effect from 2010, because he and the Government were considering long-term reform of the pension system. I strongly believe that reforms to the contributory principle will have a much more immediate impact than the introduction of a residency test, which, by its nature, would only build up a series of future accruals. It would not affect the position of women retiring in 2010, especially that key cohort of women aged 45 and over, who basically have no time left to acquire a full basic state pension. Pension credit will largely cover women who retire now without a basic state pension and, from 2010, we will move to a system whereby more women retire with a full basic state pension in their own right. I believe that that strikes the right balance between equity and affordability.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
10 July 2006
Reference
448 c1100
House
House of Commons
We should prioritise the needs of women pensioners everywhere, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I am glad that he signalled his support for the pensions White Paper, which, in relation to women, is probably the most radical shake-up of the pension system since 1948. I hope and believe that the reforms that we have announced, which will have a big impact on improving equity for women in the state pension system, will have the support of hon. Members on both sides of the House.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
10 July 2006
Reference
448 c1099
House
House of Commons
The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the changes that I have described will operate from 2010. Between now and 2010, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and I will be considering the position of existing women pensioners. One of our announcements in the pensions White Paper confirms that pension credit will increase in line with earnings from 2008. That will deal with the situation of many of the people to whom the hon. Gentleman refers. It will not affect entitlement to a full basic state pension, but it will ensure that we prioritise the needs of women who do not have a full pension and do what we can to ensure that they do not retire in poverty.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
10 July 2006
Reference
448 c1099-100
House
House of Commons
We are consulting on some issues, but I hope that my hon. Friend welcomes the announcement in the White Paper that we will convert the home responsibility protections into a new system of weekly credit, which will make a significant contribution to extending entitlement to the full basic state pension to many more women.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
10 July 2006
Reference
448 c1100
House
House of Commons
What steps he is taking to increase the number of women of pensionable age who are eligible to claim a full basic state pension.
Asked by
Jamie Reed (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
10 July 2006
Reference
448 c1099; 83301
House
House of Commons
We are currently considering all the recommendations of the second report of the Pensions Commission and will be publishing a White Paper on pension reform by the end of the month. The action that we have taken since 1997 has seen pensioner income rise across the board with the poorest pensioners benefiting the most.
Answered by
Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
8 May 2006
Reference
446 c1
House
House of Commons