§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Government will respond to the Fourth Report of the Social Security Select Committee of Session 1992–93 on the work of the Maxwell insolvency practitioners, HC 835; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HagueThe Government's response to the Select Committee's report is published today. We welcome the Committee's continued interest in the Maxwell affair and share its view that this is an exceptional case. We also welcome the Committee's recognition of the value of the measures we have taken in response to the plight of the Maxwell pensioners, which have ensured that pensions have been kept in payment while work to recover the missing pension fund assets continues.
The Government recognise that the pension scheme trustees and the liquidators of Bishopsgate Investment Management Ltd. have had to undertaken a vast amount of work in unravelling the huge amount of complex information surrounding pension scheme transactions in order to establish claims against employers and others. This work has now been largely completed. Writs have been issued against some financial institutions.
The Government strongly support the initiative taken by the Maxwell Pensioners Trust to promote an overall settlement to the disputes. A speedy settlement must be in everyone's best interests, especially the pensioners.