Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)

My Lords, in the spirit of consensus, we had some initial concerns with the Government’s approach, which we raised in Committee, specifically whether these provisions might render the Bill hybrid. That would be a serious procedural issue, and one we felt was important to explore fully. Since then, we have engaged constructively with the Government and the Public Bill Office on this question. As the Minister will know, there were a good number of meetings and exchanges. I am grateful to both for their time and careful consideration. We have been reassured that these provisions do not, in fact, make the Bill hybrid and we are content to proceed on that basis. I place on record our thanks for that engagement. I turn briefly to the substance of the amendments, which set out a comprehensive framework for the transfer of the AWE pension scheme into a new public sector arrangement, while seeking to preserve the accrued rights of members, ensure appropriate handling of assets and liabilities, and provide for the necessary technical matters, including tax treatment, information sharing and parliamentary oversight. I thank the Minister for setting out her approach with such detail. Given the reassurances we have received on the procedural point, we are content with the approach set out in this group.