§ 23 and 24. Sir B. Rhys Williamsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will seek to introduce legislation to empower his Department to consent to transfers of pension rights between occupational schemes in any cases in which at present they are debarred from doing so by statute;
(2) what steps he will take to make it permissible for trustees of occupational pension schemes approved under Section 379 of the Income Tax Act 1952 to pay tax-free lump sums on retirement in addition to periodic payments thereafter in the same way as the Civil Service Scheme.
§ Mr. DiamondThe two points to which the hon. Member refers will be considered, with others, in the course of the general review of the tax rules affecting occupational superannuation schemes which the Inland Revenue has been asked to undertake. I cannot forecast the outcome of the review.
§ Sir B. Rhys WilliamsWill the Minister say how long the review will take? What is the point in elaborating in the Budget a savings scheme while leaving unattended the law relating to pensions, when everybody knows what is happening to people who leave them in occupational schemes?
§ Mr. DiamondThe review will be completed as quickly as possible. With regard to the second part of the question, if I understood it aright, one of the aims of the review is to clarify and simplify the tax rules.