Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)

I am grateful to the Minister and to my noble friend Lady Altmann for her supportive remarks. This amendment raises a simple but important question: how do we ensure that the Local Government Pension Scheme remains responsive, transparent and accountable when the financial circumstances surrounding it change? It sounds to me very reasonable. I have taken note of the remarks made by my noble friend Lady Altmann, from her long experience. It was interesting that she pointed out that the timeframe of three years could easily be four years for the delays that necessarily have to be there, and she made further powerful points. By accepting this amendment, the Government could have a greater chance of achieving their growth targets with a domino effect—they might like to take that point on board. Across the country, as my noble friend Lady Stedman-Scott said in the previous debate, many local authorities and other participating employers are operating under immense financial pressure. We know that councils are already struggling to balance their books, and some are being forced to seek emergency support simply to maintain basic services. In that context, the ability to review contribution rates where circumstances have materially changed is surely a matter of responsible governance. The amendment is simple. It would establish a clearer framework through which contribution rates could be reviewed when there is a good reason to do so. For those reasons, I believe this amendment represents a sensible, reasonable and proportionate improvement to the current framework. It would reinforce the principles of transparency, accountability and responsible stewardship of public funds. I therefore stick to what I said at the beginning: when my amendment is called, I will wish to test the opinion of the House. Finally, I do not think that the Minister is correct. He said the policy should “remain consistent”, which shows a great lack of understanding of what many in the industry are actually saying and a great inflexibility from this Government. I wish to test the opinion of the House.