King’s Speech (4th Day)

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Petitgas, on his compelling maiden speech, and I congratulate my noble friend Lord Vallance on his. I welcome him to the House—it is good to have a fellow south London suburb represented. I also welcome the two Ministers to the Front Bench. I look forward to some constructive engagement in the implementation of Labour’s policies as set out in the King’s Speech.

I will pick up on the issues of mental health and pensions. First, we will have the long-overdue mental health Bill. The report on which it is based was written in 2017. I declare an interest in this context: my involvement with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, as set out in the register. This is the key issue. The two issues of financial well-being and mental health are inextricably linked. An earlier speaker referred to the productivity puzzle, and it is clear that good mental health improves productivity: it enables people to get to work and to be more effective when they are at work.

On reading the detailed notes on the mental health Bill, I was a little concerned that they say that, although the legislation will be passed, its measures will be implemented only when resources allow. That obviously must be true, but it is important to understand that creating and improving mental health has a massive effect on productivity in the economy as a whole. Academic research has shown that it is self-funding: improve people’s mental health and the economy will produce the growth that our policies place so much reliance on. I totally agree with my noble friend Lord Layard’s comments on a similar point.

Then there is the promised pension schemes Bill. It is important to distinguish that we have a Bill coming shortly with some immediate measures to make the existing system work more effectively. I particularly welcome the proposal that the prime objective of these schemes should be to provide a pension and not be savings arrangements, and part of the Bill is going to require schemes to see that as their major role. I support most of the measures set out for the Bill but, as my noble friend Lord Chandos said earlier, the devil is in the detail, and we will have to look at them closely to see that they are producing the required objectives.

Following the pensions Bill is the pensions review, the first phase of which starts with a look at creating investment. This whole debate so far has been seen as being about a supply issue, supplying the funds that our economy needs to create the wealth. I think that it is also a use problem; we need to make sure that that money, if it is made available, is used effectively. The British economy has a long-running problem with using investment funds effectively, and I hope that the Government will take on board that issue.

The other concern that I have is that various people from the industry are quoted in the detailed notes produced in conjunction with the proposal for the first stage of the pensions review but there are no quotes from the users, from the people who require or receive pensions. I hope that my noble friend will be able to assure me that, in carrying out the first phase of the review, trade unions and bodies representing pensioners will be involved in that work.