Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
9 contributions
Unemployment: Autism
My Lords, the Government are committed to supporting autistic people into employment, including through targeted specialist support. Our £1 billion connect to work programme includes a supported employment pathway for neurodivergent people and is now live across most of England and Wales, with recen…
I am grateful to my noble friend and will be delighted to talk to him about examples and take them back to the department. He is right to focus on the importance of supporting employers; there are many who want to do the right thing but may not know how best to do it. Business-to-business mentoring …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
8 contributions
Health-related Benefits Assessments
My Lords, face-to-face assessments are an important part of our multichannel approach. For some individuals, they are the best way for us to understand the impacts of their health condition or disability, and they can help boost public confidence in the health assessment system. This Government are …
My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness about the challenge that we face with the number of young people not in employment, education or training. That is why the Government commissioned the Milburn review, and why we welcome that report, and that is why we have action clearly going on in this spa…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
28 April 2026
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
Noble Lords will be aware that we have one outstanding issue on this Bill still in play. Unsurprisingly, it is the reserve power on asset allocation. As this is the fourth time the House has been asked to consider the question, I will spare noble Lords a detailed exposition of the merits of this pol…
My Lords, I rise for the last time in your Lordships’ House to congratulate the Minister, to thank her for all the hard work that she has done and to say how much I have appreciated my interaction with her. We have arrived at a perfect compromise in that none of us is entirely satisfied—which has al…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
27 April 2026
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, the other place has once again considered this House’s amendments and has once again disagreed with them, tabling further amendments in lieu. I will set out in a moment what those amendments contain, but I want first to say something about where we now find ourselves.
The elected House ha…
My Lords, I thank the Minister, including for our meeting on Friday. For the record, we suggested a “have regard” framework, requiring trustees to consider private market investment in alignment with the Mansion House Accord and to report to the regulator. That approach would meet the Government’s s…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
27 April 2026
3 contributions
Chemicals (Health and Safety) (Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I will come to the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, in a moment, but first, let me introduce the regulations. The measures in this instrument form an important part of the Government’s programme to ensure that Great Britain’s post-EU exit chemical supply regime is robust, p…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her very clear introduction; I think at least one piece of new information was presented to us. As the Minister said, this is a fatal amendment because I continue to have very grave concerns about this SI.
I declare my interests to show noble Lords where I am comi…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
22 April 2026
8 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I do not get to say “forthwith” often enough. That is a great start to the day. I thank all noble Lords for their continued scrutiny of this important Bill. We are now looking today at the remaining areas of disagreement.
Let me start with the reserve power. Amendment 15 and those connect…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation and for our meeting with her and the Pensions Minister yesterday. Small movements are better than none, but she will know from that conversation that, as regards the so-called reserve power, there is still a long way to go, and the House should be c…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
20 April 2026
20 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, in moving Motion A, I will also speak to Motions B, B1 and C. The Commons have disagreed with Amendment 1 on the grounds that it could introduce, rather than mitigate, risks that the provision in Clause 2 could be used in unintended ways. Amendment 1 would place an explicit prohibition on …
My Lords, I shall speak also to Motions J, J1, K, K1 and L.
As I have previously outlined, we cannot accept Lords Amendment 13 on small pots or Amendment 13B within Motion D1, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, which would extend the dormancy period for automatic consolidation from 12 mont…
+18 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
16 April 2026
National Employment Savings Trust (Amendment) Order 2026
That the draft Order laid before the House on 26 February be approved. Relevant document: 54th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 13 April.
Lords
Committee Stage
13 April 2026
3 contributions
National Employment Savings Trust (Amendment) Order 2026
My Lords, this statutory instrument was laid before the House on 26 February. Automatic enrolment has been widely recognised as a major policy success, significantly increasing participation in workplace pension saving. The National Employment Savings Trust—Nest—has been central to that achievement …
I welcome the Government’s decision to bring in this draft order. As my noble friend the Minister has made clear, it builds on the clear success of automatic enrolment and Nest as the public service vehicle for automatic enrolment contributions. It is a crucial element in achieving the Government’s …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
26 March 2026
3 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, the amendments here are minor and technical following Report, and the Government will not oppose them today. Amendment 4 in my name is also minor and technical. This amendment was tabled to correct an error concerning Amendment 178, which was moved by mistake on Report on Monday 23 March. …
My Lords, I am grateful to the House for its scrutiny of the Pension Schemes Bill. The Bill will make a real difference for people saving for their retirement. It will help their money to work harder by improving how pension schemes operate, reducing unnecessary costs and enabling larger, better-gov…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
24 March 2026
12 contributions
Youth Unemployment
My Lords, I am grateful for the questions from both noble Lords. I will come to them in a moment, but I think it is worth reiterating why we are expanding our support for young people now. While the UK’s overall employment levels are historically high, it has been a tough picture for young people in…
This is already happening in lots of different places and in lots of different ways. Jobcentres are doing it. For example, we are setting up youth hubs in 360 locations across the country, where we can bring together employers and young people, as well as lots of other services, so they can meet the…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
23 March 2026
15 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
He has spoken already.
My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who spoke. I think the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, decided not to dwell on a number of his amendments because there is more to come, I suspect, in later groups. I had a nice long speech written in response to all these, but I may spare the House parts of that …
+13 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
19 March 2026
14 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I thank noble Lords—at least, most noble Lords—for their contributions to that little debate. It is probably worth saying at the outset what this is about. Anyone who listened to the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, would assume, first, that theft was involved; secondly, that pots were being taken…
Go on. It is going to be a long day.
+12 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
16 March 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Viscount, Lord Thurso, for introducing his Amendment 22. Many members of defined benefit, or DB, schemes have seen inflation erode the value of their pensions, as he said. That is especially true where any uplift on older benefits depends on decisions made at the…
My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken this evening. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, for her support on the principle of the shift to value for money. Before I move on to the detail of her amendments and others, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, that I am no…
Lords
Debate
16 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, my noble friend Lord Davies and the noble Viscount, Lord Thurso, for introducing their amendments. During our various deliberations, many noble Lords have highlighted the fact that the level to which a DB scheme is funded is subject to vol…
Lords
Debate
12 March 2026
8 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
My Lords, this Government believe that the UK should be a country where every person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. That is why we are so committed to removing the barriers that stop people thriving and becoming all that they can be. Doing this will benefit not just the individuals, …
My Lords, I too am pleased to contribute to this important debate and look forward to the maiden speeches of the noble Baronesses, Lady Antrobus and Lady Teather, and the noble Lord Walker of Broxton. We welcome these wonderful people to our House and look forward to their contributions.
I feel I m…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
9 contributions
Pension Schemes: Ministerial Powers
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer, but I am afraid that if the Government’s main argument for including these powers is that they do not expect to need to use them, and will use them only if pension schemes themselves decide that they do not believe it is wise to achieve the allocations…
My Lords, the Government say that this power is merely a backstop to the Mansion House Accord but that is a gross misrepresentation. The Pension Schemes Bill goes far beyond that and gives Ministers sweeping authority to mandate pension investments to whatever level they choose. The state should not…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
5 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
That the amendments for the Report stage be marshalled and considered in the following order: Clauses 1 to 118, the Schedule, Clauses 119 to 123, Title.
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
8 contributions
Access to Work Fund
My Lords, last year I met a group of autistic youngsters who were in employment for the first time, thanks to the support of the Access to Work fund. But the fund, in truth, is in crisis. There is a backlog of 60,000 applications waiting to be processed, 33,000 people are waiting for payments, and t…
My Lords, I totally agree with the points brought up by the noble Lord, Lord Touhig. We are very fortunate in having a Minister who cares so deeply about this subject, as we all know. One of the problems in getting a job, which is what I want to ask the Minister about, is that, in practice, the work…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
3 March 2026
4 contributions
Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026
Can the Minister clarify that this will be a different way to use what was previously DHP rather than additional new money?
I am sorry to interrupt the Minister, but I feel very strongly about the use of the phrase “affordable housing”. Affordable housing is, by definition, not affordable. The broad definition of affordability for rent is 80% of the market rent, which, for most people, is not affordable—but social housin…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
2 March 2026
3 contributions
Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I will also be asking the Grand Committee to consider the draft Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
The schemes we are debating provide vital support for sufferers of certain dust-related diseases, which are often caused by occupat…
My Lords, I wish to make a couple of remarks in relation to these statutory instruments. It is a long time since the pneumoconiosis compensation schemes were brought in—so long that a photo that I was shown on Friday of a very youthful now Minister was remarkably recognisable, but not because of the…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
2 March 2026
8 contributions
Child Poverty Strategy
I am grateful, as always, to my noble friend the Minister, who I suspect is one of the finest advocates for the Government in either House. She will know that some critics of the Government crave a greater overarching vision or story; others complain that policies such as removing the two-child bene…
My Lords, the better futures social outcomes fund was announced in the child poverty strategy, with government payments tied to the achievement of measurable improvements in people’s lives, such as increased family stability. Family breakdown can be a driver, as well as an effect, of poverty. Can th…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
23 February 2026
13 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
I am grateful to all noble Lords who introduced and spoke to these varied amendments. The range of subjects covered here shows the interest across the whole pensions landscape, but at heart is the objective that we all share of putting members first.
There was a theme around adequacy in Amendments …
A letter is being prepared and will be sent after Committee. I want to put on record the timings and to be very clear about them. The interim report will be published this spring, and the aim is for the final report to be in early 2027. I will put any further detail in the letter to the noble Viscou…
+11 more contributions in this session