Baroness Hayman (CB)

My Lords, when I came into the Chamber today, a Cross-Bench colleague congratulated me on the way in which my amendment has been handled; it is an absolutely perfect example of how the House of Lords should operate. We are all very aware, I think, that sometimes we are not operating at our best at the moment. In this case, an amendment was put forward on a cross-party basis and negotiations went on with the Minister; we managed to thrash out an amendment—and we did not get everything that we wanted, but we certainly got the legislative basis on which guidance could be issued. That guidance has been asked for by trustees and the industry and considered by working groups. I first got involved with the issue and knew that there was a request for clarity some five or six years ago, when we had another Pension Schemes Bill. I am seriously disappointed that what I thought was a consensus that this was a good way forward has not been accepted across the House. I am particularly distressed that, as I understand, the Liberal Democrat Benches will not be supporting the government amendment today. My understanding up to this morning was that the concerns that existed there related to the fact that my amendment had in some way been watered down and was less tough, putting less into statute and giving more reassurance to those who were concerned about overinvolvement. The Minister set out very clearly that this was not a case of overinvolvement; it is certainly not a case of mandation. I was once told that a Secretary of State in a previous Government said that he did not worry at all about “have regard” amendments, because they could be ignored if there was a basis for so doing. So I am, as I say, very upset. I will not go through all the arguments as to why this would be valuable—I did it at Second Reading and in Committee and the Minister has done it for me today. I am no expert, and I accept that there are experts in the Chamber, but pension investments are the ultimate long-term investments—the ultimate investments in which long-term, systemic risks should be taken into account. The anxiety that some pension fund trustees had about taking those into account was holding those funds back from acting in the best interests of their pensioners. That, quite simply, was what we were trying to put right in this amendment. The Minister has made a compelling case for this amendment, which she and her officials have taken infinite care over, and I still hope, even at this late stage, that those who are thinking of not supporting it will reconsider and support it strongly, as I do.