Pension Schemes Bill

Debate between Baroness Scott of Needham Market and Baroness Sherlock

Committee stage
Tuesday 3rd February 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, who always throws out good challenges. I welcome the opportunity and hope that I can persuade her with the answers I am about to give.

Let me say at the start that the Government’s objective is clearly to move to a market of fewer, larger providers so that savers can benefit from better governance, greater investment sophistication and lower costs. The measures in the Bill, together with the review and the regulation-making powers in Clauses 42 to 44, are carefully calibrated to reduce fragmentation or preserve the scope for innovation if and where doing so demonstrably serves members’ interests. That is the key.

I accept that much of the fragmentation is a product of history, but we have seen, in the pensions investment review and the responses that came back to the consultation, that master trusts are creating multiple default arrangements. We do not want to see the same issues arising over time as exist in GPPs, where members are in too many default arrangements that do not offer value. The point I would make to the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, and the noble Viscount, Lord Younger, is that this is about members’ interests and returns for members. We are trying to address the multiplicity of default arrangements that do not serve members because they offer poor value.

Amendments 168 to 170 from the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, would aim to broaden—

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Scott of Needham Market) (LD)]

My Lords, the Division Bells are ringing. The Committee will therefore adjourn for 10 minutes.

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

I was going so well; I was in full flow.