"My Lords, I must thank the sponsors of this Bill and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Elliott, who spoke of breakthroughs, which are very important. As we might have expected, we have heard heart-rending stories and stories from personal survivors. When we discuss the Bill, we must remember our dear …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, I must first remind myself to declare that I am a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme: I could not fail to be, having been 28 years on the London Borough of Barnet Council, but I tend to forget about it because it is quite a while …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, I support these amendments because I believe that transparency is good. I will need to address some of the things that the noble Lord, Lord Davies, said. He is right from an actuarial point of view, obviously. He said the decision is made by the council; in fact, …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, as has been stated, this clause introduces compulsory mergers of Local Government Pension Scheme funds, and the word “compulsory” worries me. We on these Benches accept that consolidation can sometimes improve efficiency and governance, but compulsion—I emphasise this—is a serious step that demands strong justification and clear safeguards, …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, although we welcome the youth employment scheme, can the Minister say whether the Government will monitor the employment of 26 and 27 year-olds? If you are a small business and you can get someone at 24 for nothing, will that reduce your employment of 26 to 27 year-olds? …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, with the focus on the problems in Iran at the moment, and bearing in mind what the Minister has said about what he can and cannot comment on, does he agree that with the Intelligence and Security Committee’s finding that:
"This is an important, basic matter. Directing investment by asset types raises difficulties. If pension funds or individuals knew which assets were going to go up, there would be no problem, but there is no guarantee of that, so, my question to the Minister is: are pension funds primarily long-term …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"I have always reckoned that the duty of pension fund managers is to the members. What we are trying to do now is say that they have other duties; however, it is not very clear where the borderline is...." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech
"My Lords, I thank everyone for their contributions. I do not intend to go on at length.
It is a novel view, is it not, that a Bill should have a purpose? This ought to be applied to many other Bills to show what their purposes are. This Bill has …..." Lord Palmer of Childs Hill - View Speech