Motion
Moved by
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth
and Development Office and Department for Work and Pensions
()
That the Bill do now pass.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth
and Development Office and Department for Work and Pensions
() (Con)
My Lords, as this is a two-clause Bill and the main clause was an
amendment, I will use this opportunity to thank all noble Lords
for the positive engagement and feedback they have provided thus
far. We have had some truly wide-ranging debates, and I deeply
appreciate the House’s passion for and knowledge of social
security and pensions. I am enormously grateful to my noble
friend Lady Scott, who has supported me at each stage of the
Bill’s progress, both on and off the Floor of the House. I extend
my thanks to the noble Baronesses, Lady Sherlock, Lady Janke,
Lady Altmann and Lady Stroud, and the noble Lords, and , for their amendments,
ensuring thorough scrutiny of the Bill. I extend my thanks to the
countless other noble Lords who have provided an abundance of
constructive support and knowledge, and I thank all noble Lords
for taking part.
(Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her remarks and thank all
noble Lords who participated in the debate on the Bill. For a
short Bill, its impact is quite wide, affecting millions of
people. Our debates have raised some crucial issues around
approaches to uprating and the government strategy for retirement
saving, and especially around the position of pensioners on lower
incomes as we enter a season of spiralling prices. Not for the
first time, it is possible that our deliberations may have a
broader impact in parts of Westminster and Whitehall than perhaps
we realise or will ever know—at least until the autobiographies
of the future come to be written.
On the matter of memoirs, these proceedings have also been
notable for the return to the fray of the former Minister for
Welfare Reform, the noble Lord, , whose frank demolition of the
Government’s case for social security cuts and policies such as
the benefits cap will, I predict, turn out to have a half-life
somewhere around that of uranium.
I thank the Minister for her concession on Report, in response to
my amendment on pensioner poverty, that an impact assessment
should be published. That happened on Friday. I look forward to
having the opportunity, if we can, to discuss that with her and
her officials in due course. Most importantly, we have amended
the Bill to require the Government to find a way to adjust
pension uprating and to maintain the earnings link, while making
allowance for the pandemic. I urge the Government to take that
seriously and to use the time they now have to find a better
solution than that offered by the Bill.
Public trust in politics has taken a bit of a hit in recent
times. If there were a way of pursuing this objective without
dumping a manifesto commitment, we would all want that. In the
meantime, I thank the Minister and her officials, colleagues
across the House for their thoughtful contributions, and Dan
Harris of our staff team for his marvellous support. We send the
Bill back to the Commons with our best wishes, hoping that it
will embrace it and hold on to it as it is.
(LD)
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Janke, apologises for not
being able to be here today. She has asked me to say a few words
on behalf of our group. We very much welcome that noble Lords
have agreed with the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady
Altmann. We hope that it will enable MPs in the other place to
think again about the need to protect pensioners from the
worsening economic circumstances. In the time since the Bill’s
passage through the other place, significant changes have taken
place, with economic indicators leaving little doubt that
pressures will grow in the months ahead. I thank all noble Lords
for their contributions. I particularly welcome the cross-party
working made possible by the noble Baronesses, Lady Altmann and
Lady Sherlock. We have much appreciated the Minister’s helpful
approach. We thank her for her openness and willingness to share
information on the Bill. We extend sincere thanks and
appreciation to the Bill team, who have provided us with expert
professional advice at all stages.
(Con)
My Lords, I also thank my noble friend the Minister and the Bill
team for all their work, and for the courtesy they have shown in
meeting us many times to listen to the concerns we have
expressed. I too am extremely grateful for the work across the
House that was encompassed by this Bill. It has shown the House
of Lords at its best. This is an issue of significant social
importance where this House has shown that it believes that the
other place took a decision based, perhaps, on incorrect
information and has asked it to reconsider. I am particularly
grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Sherlock and Lady Janke,
my noble friend Lady Wheatcroft and others including the noble
Lords, , and , and the noble Baroness, Lady
Drake, for their hard work. As the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock,
has said, I hope the Government will find a way to retain this
amendment in the Bill and uprate state pensions by more than the
3.1%, which is clearly inadequate to protect against cost of
living increases.
(Lab)
My Lords, I echo the words of the previous speakers. I hope that
the Government will act on the recommendations of this House. I
am also grateful to the Minister for the impact analysis, which I
received on Friday night. I should be grateful if in future we
could have a better quality of data. For example, it refers to
weekly mean benefits, which do not tell us much about the
societal impact or distribution. It would be very helpful, for
example, to know the median figure and to have some further
analysis in the appropriate financial brackets. Table 4 refers to
the number of people eligible, pre-2016, for the new state
pension but does not tell us how many actually receive the full
amount. Once again, could I please request a fuller analysis,
which would not only provide greater transparency but enable us
to call the Government to account? It could be in the form of a
statement of the number of individuals receiving, for example, a
pension of less than £100 per week, those receiving between £100
and £120, and so on in other brackets. A better quality of
analysis would enrich the debate.
(Con)
My Lords, I am grateful for the remarks made by all noble Lords
today. Our discussions have been thoughtful and powerful. Above
all, they have demonstrated the commitment across your Lordships’
House to protect the income of pensioners and to bear down on
pensioner poverty. The Bill now goes to the other place to
consider the amendments put forward by this House. I look forward
to our consideration of its reasons on the Bill’s return. As
always, I note the challenge of the noble Baroness, Lady
Sherlock. I will take the observations of the noble Lord, , on the impact assessment back
to the department, as I have done with all the other points he
has raised. Finally, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken
today and at earlier stages. I also thank the officials who have
supported me in our discussions.
15:25:00
Bill passed and returned to the Commons with amendments.
