RATE OF MINIMUM PERSONAL PENSION (Hansard, 9 May 1973)

§ Mr. Dean
I beg to move Amendment No. 61, in page 70, line 20, at end insert: '(8) Without prejudice to subsection (7) above, the scheme must provide, in the case of minimum personal pension not coming into payment at its full rate until after pensionable age (where the earner remains in the relevant employment after attaining that age, or consents in writing to postponement), for the pension to be adjusted so as to take into account any period between pensionable age and the time when the pension comes into payment at its full rate; and—

(a) this provision must be made in such a way as to satisfy the Occupational Pensions Board as to its adequacy; and

(b) recognition of the scheme may be made subject to prescribed conditions as to the adjustment of benefit in such cases'.

The effect of the amendment is to require schemes to adjust the minimum personal pension in a manner satisfactory to the Occupational Pensions Board where its payment is deferred until after pension age. The adjustment required must not only maintain the value of the pension during the period of deferment but actually enhance it to take account of the period during which it is not in payment. This will enable women who are prepared to retire later than age 60 to receive a higher pension than that laid down in the Bill.
The methods of adjustment or supplementation are not laid down in the amendment because these will vary; for example, according to whether contributions continue to be paid during the period of deferment. It is therefore preferable to leave the board to decide whether each method used by schemes is adequate.
The regulation-making power in paragraph (b) is essentially a precautionary 610 measure to allow scope for further conditions while the precise implications of this requirement are discussed with those concerned.
The amendment fulfils an undertaking given by the Government in Committee, and it was referred to yesterday in one of our main debates on women's pension rights.

§ Mr. Dell
I am grateful to the Government for making this amendment. I take it that it means that in respect of women who retire after the age of 60 and men who retire after the age of 65 the annual rate of pension will be in respect of a woman higher than 0.70 per cent. or 0.90 per cent. and, in the case of a man, higher than 1.00 per cent. or 1.25 per cent.

§ Mr. Dean
The effect of the amendment, as was explained by my right hon. Friend yesterday, is that if a woman postpones her retirement until the age of 65—the normal retirement age for men— her accrual rate will be broadly the same as that of a man.

§ Mrs. Elaine Kellett-Bowman (Lancaster)
I thank the Minister for moving the amendment. He knows what great assistance it will be to the women in my constituency, many of whose cases he has been kind enough to take up. I pass on their gratitude to him.