Media Centre
Public Affairs
Pensions Bill defeated amendments: Unclaimed assets
|
Contact: Rachel Le Brocq Date: 1 May 2007 |
Print page | Email |
The Government defeated amendments laid by Conservative MPs to use pensions unclaimed assets to create a ‘lifeboat fund’ to help those who lost their pension when their employers went bust. The amendment had also proposed a clause to allow the Secretary of State to change this to include all unclaimed assets over time.
Speaking within the debate on 18 April, Philip Hammond MP (Con, Runneymede and Weybridge), Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “The new clause would provide that the Secretary of State specified the classes of unclaimed assets to be collected by the agency. Our focus is on unclaimed pension assets, including the possibility of residual scheme assets. We think that there is an elegance and a justice in using unclaimed pension assets to deal with a pensions problem. However, the House should be aware that the new clause would enable the Secretary of State, over time, should he wish, to widen or change the scope of the classes of unclaimed assets that could be included.”
The Government defeated the amendments by 22 votes. The full debate on the Pensions Bill can be viewed at the link below -
