Pensions

Baroness Neville-Rolfe Excerpts

Wednesday 19th July 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Buscombe]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I am conscious that she knows an enormous amount more than I do about the whole issue of pensions. A number of wider recommendations were put forward by John Cridland, and the Government have been listening responsively to the whole question of a mid-life MOT. This will be part of an ongoing review process. Whether or not it is right for that to be in the legislation on the single financial guidance body is another issue, but I assure the noble Baroness that the Government believe that this, among other recommendations, is seriously worthy of further review and discussion.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome my noble friend’s responsible approach and agree on the scale of the financial challenge that we face and the need for a big shift in the interests of intergenerational fairness, especially given the problems that youngsters have in buying their own homes, which are of course another form of support in old age. My question is different: why are the Government not going faster, bringing these changes in more quickly and, perhaps, going further up the age range?

Employment: New Jobs

Baroness Neville-Rolfe Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

The figures I have are the actual figures: the number of youth claimants is down, by 105,000 in the year, to 315,000.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My Lords, the figures on unemployment, especially what the Minister has said about young people, are very good. Will my noble friend comment on the regional spread of the new jobs and on which industries and sectors are benefiting from this good news?

[Lord Freud]

I am pleased to say that the regional position is pretty balanced. During this quarter, employment rose in virtually every UK region, with one exception. The north of England and the Midlands are doing particularly well. If one looks at the balance between the north and the south, since the election there have been 360,000 extra private sector jobs in the north—to take those four regions together—and 420,000 in London and the south-east.