§ Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
§ Sir Brandon Rhys WilliamsSince my right hon. Friend is being so obliging in Committee and is helping us all so much, I hope that he will not object if I ask him to explain the import of clause 54 which, as I understand it, is new in the Bill and did not appear in the previous one. I imagine that my right hon. Friend will be able to enlighten the Committee with a brief explanation of what the clause means. This, too, is a very technical clause and an explanation of it would be helpful to the occupational pensions movement.
§ Mr. Norman LamontWhen personal pensions are introduced in January next year, retirement annuities will cease to be available—this was the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway) touched on earlier—although existing arrangements will be able to continue under the present tax rules. The purpose of the clause is to make two changes in the retirement annuity regime for the period between the Budget of last March and next January.
The first of those changes is to introduce the same higher contribution limits as will apply after next January for personal pensions, and, secondly, to impose the same cap of £150,000 on lump sums, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Kensington (Sir B. Rhys Williams) took exception earlier, with effect from 17 March of this year for new occupational pension schemes and new members of existing schemes.
The provisions concerning the lump sum limit in subsections (3) to (7) of the clause are new, but the rest of it is not. It was not possible to include them in the preelection Bill, but I can assure my hon. Friend that it was our intention to introduce them in Committee.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Clause 54 ordered to stand part of the Bill
1056§ Clauses 55 and 56 ordered to stand part of the Bill.