Member

We entirely support Amendment 4 in the name of my noble friend Lady Noakes. We will return to the broader issue of mandation in more detail on the second day of Report, as she said, but my noble friend is absolutely right to have raised the point now. Mandation does not arise only elsewhere in this Bill; it is also present in relation to the Local Government Pension Scheme. This amendment is designed to prevent the Government using the Bill’s new regulatory powers to direct pension funds towards politically preferred investments. We are absolutely clear on this point: investment decisions should be made by fund managers acting in the interest of members, and government should not steer pension assets towards particular sectors, projects or locations.