State Pension Reform

Bridget Phillipson Excerpts

Monday 14th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Steve Webb]

The remaining contracted-out final salary pension schemes currently receive a 3.4% national insurance rebate. That will go, which will be a cost to those employers. We have talked to the pension funds, the CBI and so on. They have said that a fair response is to allow the schemes to reduce accrual rates—for example, to offset any additional cost—and that will be a provision in the pensions Bill that we publish later this week.

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

The Minister just referred to women applying for child benefit, even though they might not be entitled to any award. Does he not think that we are potentially storing up a big problem for the future, in that many women will see no reason to register for a benefit to which they will not be entitled?

[Steve Webb]

Just to be clear, even if we were not doing any of this pensions stuff, although someone might be the partner of a high earner when their baby is born, people’s relationships change. It is therefore always advisable for them to claim their child benefit anyway—even if, in the end, they receive a zero award—which also sorts out the pension credits problem.