Baroness Altmann (Non-Afl)

My Lords, briefly, I support Amendment 120, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Palmer. It is important to look at the issues he rightly raised that relate to the market. Indeed, Amendment 165 is particularly important, given that the injustices, some of which we will come on to in later groups, seem to have few redress routes. For a good pensions system, it is incumbent on us to have a better system to identify and remedy occupational pension injustices. I will briefly speak to my Amendment 160, which would require a review to ensure that data in pension schemes must be accurate. Currently, there is no legal requirement to ensure that the amounts of money being paid into pension schemes for auto-enrolment workers or anyone else—I am particularly concerned about auto-enrolment—are correct. The Pensions Regulator has to make sure that pension contributions are being paid, but there is no requirement to make sure that this money is the correct amount. I suggest amending the Pensions Act 2008 so that the section on “quality requirements” includes something that confirms regular checking of pension contributions; the regulations in Section 33 on “deduction of contributions” “must require employers to obtain confirmation from the trustees or managers … that the amounts … paid into a scheme … are regularly checked … recorded and corrected as quickly as possible”; and Section 60 on “requirement to keep records” would require schemes to provide confirmation that regular data accuracy checks and contribution verification, including for tax relief and national insurance relief, are correctly reported. I have so often seen pension scheme records riddled with errors. It is surprising that there are no requirements in the legislation to make sure that the amounts of money going in are correct. I am interested to hear the Minister’s comments on the Government’s thinking as to whether they would consider this.