Lord Davies of Brixton — Hansard

Lords Proceedings 17 March 2026 3 contributions

Spring Forecast Statement

Leigh of Hurley.

As the noble Lord has invited me to intervene, I will. The point is that women live longer than men and it is much more likely that, if a person passes away, it will be the man leaving the woman to be the PR and to pay the tax.

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Lords Debate 16 March 2026

Pension Schemes Bill

I have three points. First, I profoundly disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Lucas. To pin the blame just on politicians lets everyone else off scot-free. It is more like Murder on the Orient Express —everyone had a hand. My particular favourite is the accountants, who had a big hand; the way they de…

Lords Debate 16 March 2026 2 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

I do not mean to be unkind to the tablers of this amendment, but it is nonsense, in my view. As the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, explained, I can confirm that I am a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. To be honest, this amendment would mean more work for actuaries, on the face of it. Who …

I have worked in the pension sphere for far longer than I care to remember, and so-called surpluses have been a big issue throughout. They have come and gone. Sometimes they have been negative surpluses—deficits—but they are still central to the health or otherwise of a pension scheme. They have bee…

Lords Debate 12 March 2026

Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill

My Lords, I support this Bill, though I am disappointed that some oppose lifting people out of poverty while constantly supporting greater spending on the welfare of corporations and the super-rich. Eradication of child poverty could boost the UK economy by around £40 billion a year. Children in po…

Lords Oral Questions 11 March 2026

Pension Schemes: Ministerial Powers

My noble friend is quite right; we have had many opportunities. It has been a joy to discuss the Pension Schemes Bill over many weeks, and that joy is set to extend for some weeks to come. My noble friend raises an important point: if the Government want to make sure that people are investing in goo…

Lords Debate 5 March 2026 4 contributions

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

I want to contribute, by supporting the Government, a bit of sense to this debate. We have heard so much doom and gloom, but what is the reality? What impact are these measures going to have? I am sure my noble friend the Minister will be able to tell us. The first point to understand is that salar…

I thought I said in my earlier remarks that there will be a marginal effect: I accept that, although we do not actually know what that marginal effect will be. It is all hypothetical at the moment. One thing we do not know from the OBR figures is quite what the reaction will be and how people will a…

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Lords Proceedings 25 February 2026

Local Government Reorganisation

Would my noble friend agree that, although the proposal to cancel the elections has been dropped, the Opposition have no basis to complain about such proposals because they have done this themselves? I bear personal witness to this, as I was a member of the Greater London Council—I am always gratefu…

Lords Committee Stage 24 February 2026 4 contributions

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

I support the Bill. It is an eminently reasonable approach to the difficult financial situation in which we found ourselves when the Labour Government took office. No one likes increases in taxation—it is easy to say “No, no, no”—but given the outcome of the election, some increase in taxation was r…

I spend most of my time in these debates about tax relief on pensions defending the existing system, because the people I tend to mix with regard that tax relief as grossly unfair. It obviously gives far more to the higher paid than the lower paid, and that is why there is widespread discussion of h…

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Lords Committee Stage 23 February 2026 6 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

There can be no objection in principle to having a review; all public policies should be open to review. The objections are practical, such as whether it would be a waste of time for the people who would have to undertake the review, who might have better things to do. Undertaking reviews can lead t…

This is about impartial pensions advice. Had I heard the noble Lord’s speech, I would have said that I did not accept his arguments. What I want is a pensions system that works without people needing advice. Proper pensions advice is extremely expensive, and on the idea that everyone will get at lea…

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Lords Committee Stage 10 February 2026 3 contributions

Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these orders in her usual detail. I will speak to both: the draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026 and the draft Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Increase Order 2026. Although they are being debated together today, they are fundamentally differe…

I appreciate the noble Lord’s intervention. I will read Hansard . We will write to the noble Lord and start some correspondence on that issue. I appreciate the points made by the noble Lord. Everybody knows that he knows what he is talking about and that he is well versed in pensions legislation. If…

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Lords Oral Questions 5 February 2026 2 contributions

Civil Service Pensions: Capita

My Lords, the service being experienced by some members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme is totally unacceptable, and I apologise for the distress caused to members. We have established a recovery taskforce led by HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and have deployed a 150-person government surge t…

My Lords, it might be helpful if I lay out what the Government are doing. I know that many Members of your Lordships’ House may have been contacted for details, not least because they may be members of this scheme. If there are specific concerns or cases that people have raised with Members of your …

Lords Committee Stage 5 February 2026 6 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

I will speak to my Amendment 203ZB. I thank my noble friend for the decision in the Budget to grant future increases. That is very much to be welcomed. As for the technical difficulties, I would love an opportunity to start discussing GMPs and even better if we got on to the anti-franking rules, but…

I offer my support for the amendment moved and the other amendments proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann. She suggested that, in some ways, her amendments are more important than mine. I agree and I will come on to why that is so in a moment. I recognise the importance of the government amen…

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Lords Debate 4 February 2026 2 contributions

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill

My Lords, it is always a pleasure and a challenge to follow the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Brixton, but I welcome his remarks. This is the second attempt by the Government to raise money by stealth through national insurance—first on workers, now on savers. Your Lordships will recall the disaster o…

I stand corrected. This is a moment in taxation when we move towards taxing savings. It is against a backdrop in which policy has been relatively settled in this area in recent years. There was an understanding that we need to provide private sector pensions. Quite broadly, there was cross-party su…

Lords Committee Stage 3 February 2026 5 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

I possibly touched on this issue in the wrong group, but as the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, has indicated, I raised, in essence, the same points in the previous debate. I am in favour of mandation, but what worries me is that the Government do not seem to understand—and have never acknowledged—the…

This part of the Bill is particularly important and the part to which I gave the strongest welcome. There is, inevitably, a caveat: we do not know much of the detail because it depends so much on what the regulations say and require. But this is the necessary and right framework to provide pathways …

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Lords Proceedings 2 February 2026

Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report

My Lords, I should let the House know that I am joint chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women, which serves to bring the concerns of many 1950s women to the attention of parliamentarians. I am glad that my noble friend the Minister, in answering the question,…

Lords Proceedings 29 January 2026

UK-EU Customs Union

My Lords, I add my congratulations to the four maiden speakers on their excellent speeches. As they arrive and I depart, I feel in this debate a sense of Groundhog Day as we are replaying Brexit 10 years later. I wonder what the electorate would make of this, especially when in the other place at th…

Lords Committee Stage 26 January 2026 3 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

The noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, called on the support of reasonable people. I think of myself as a reasonable person, and I support her. I find the Government’s position on this totally inexplicable. I say in all honesty to my noble friend the Minister that the reasons given so far for these provi…

I wanted to speak after the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, because, while I agree with what he said, I slightly disagreed when he talked about the favourable returns achieved by private equity. There is a massive problem with survivorship bias in those figures because the ones you never hea…

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Lords Committee Stage 19 January 2026 8 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

This group raises important issues about the purpose of these proposed changes to the legislation on pension schemes. I am going to move my Amendment 23 and speak to my Amendments 25, 27, 28, 29 and 30—and I thank the Chairman for the correction. I look forward to the speech of the noble Viscount, L…

I thank my noble friend the Minister for her reply and other speakers who have contributed to this debate, which I think was worth having. I am pleased that I raised the issue on terminology. I recognise that it is a lost cause, but I have never been afraid, like St Jude, to support lost causes. It …

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Lords Committee Stage 14 January 2026 6 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

The noble Baroness cited a particular case and gave considerable detail about the circumstances. Is there any reason why the Committee cannot be told which authority it concerns? As things stand, there is no way that I or any other Member of the Committee could comment on that case. If the noble Bar…

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate. It is an important issue and public money should always be open to scrutiny and deep thought about how we approach these issues. The noble Baroness, in introducing the amendments, quoted the significant switch round in the financial state of the Local Go…

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Lords Committee Stage 12 January 2026 6 contributions

Pension Schemes Bill

It is a pleasure to be here. Although for a while I was feeling a bit lonely, I very much welcome my noble friends; what we do not make up in numbers, I am sure my friends will more than make up for in the quality of their contributions. I declare an interest as a fellow of the Institute and Faculty…

This group is about asset pools in the Local Government Pension Scheme. I had not intended to intervene on this group, but I want to comment on the remarks made by the noble Viscount, Lord Younger, in introducing this group of amendments on the Local Government Pension Scheme. I am relatively agnost…

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Lords Debate 6 January 2026

Sentencing Bill

My Lords, the case has been made clearly and persuasively, with no significant objection, but it is a difficult issue of public policy. As the noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, said, there is a risk—there is this downside risk of a case that will make headlines in the newspapers—but that has to be set a…

Lords Debate 18 December 2025

Pension Schemes Bill

My Lords, like other noble Lords, I very much look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady White of Tufnell Park. I declare an interest as an employee of Marsh, the sister organisation to Mercer, a pension and investment advisory and management company. I welcome many parts of the …

Lords Debate 24 November 2025

Mental Health Bill [HL]

My Lords, I strongly support the position taken by the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge. The question of who should be appointed as a young patient’s nominated person has been thoroughly explored during this Bill in both Houses. Everyone agrees that some clarity is required in an area with a variety of…

Lords Oral Questions 20 November 2025

Private Equity

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Monks, on securing this very timely and important debate. I declare all sorts of interests. I am a founder and current senior partner of the advisory firm, Cavendish Corporate Finance—I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Davies, for his comments on the …

Lords Oral Questions 17 November 2025

Inheritance Tax: Pensions

I very much agree with the first part of my noble friend’s question. It is very important to state that the intended purpose of pension savings is to fund retirement. The Government continue to incentivise pension savings, with tax relief on both contributions to pensions and the growth of funds hel…