§ 2.44 p.m.
§ Lord Willoughby de BrokeMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so I declare my interest as an annuitant of the Equitable Life Assurance Society.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the findings of the Penrose inquiry into the conduct of the Equitable Life Assurance Society to be completed and whether they intend to make those findings public.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, Lord Penrose's inquiry is independent of the Treasury. It is for the inquiry to set its own timetable. Lord Penrose has said that he hopes to be able to report to the Treasury this summer. It remains our intention to publish Lord Penrose's report in full if at all possible. The only possible constraint on publication in full will be the need to respect legal and commercial confidentiality restrictions.
§ Lord Willoughby de BrokeMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. Given the dire state of Equitable Life at the moment, it seems likely that there was regulatory failure. A lot of the policy holders and annuitants such as me would like to know whether, if the Penrose inquiry finds that there was regulatory failure, the Government will feel it their duty to compensate policy holders and annuitants for that failure.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, I do not want to join the noble Lord, Lord Willoughby, in anticipating what conclusions Lord Penrose may come to. Those conclusions are entirely a matter for him. His terms of reference are very wide, going back, potentially, over a period of 50 years. If he were to 554 recommend that there should be compensation for Equitable Life policy holders, the Government would have to take that seriously.
§ Lord HigginsMy Lords, I declare an interest in Equitable Life. Many Equitable Life pensioners believe it is obvious that the Government, as regulator, have failed to protect their interests. As the Penrose inquiry was set up by the Treasury, with terms of reference decided by the Treasury and to report to the Treasury and the inquiry now seems to have disappeared from sight, can the Minister say at least that when the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report is made available, the Government will respond to it without delay, if necessary before the publication of the Penrose report?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Higgins, has joined the noble Lord, Lord Willoughby, in anticipating the outcome of the Penrose inquiry, saying that it is bound to show regulatory failure. I do not know that and I cannot say that. That is a matter for Lord Penrose to conclude. It is not true that the Government restricted the terms of the Penrose inquiry. The terms of reference are very wide, as I have said. They were accepted by Lord Penrose and there has never been any suggestion that there was any undue restriction on them. Neither is it true that the inquiry has been lost to sight. The inquiry started to interview individual witnesses only yesterday.