Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of paragraph 2.75 of the OBR's Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report, published on 8 July, which states that the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions increases fiscal risk as gilt holdings fall; and the finding that this will lead to an in increase in debt interest spending of £22 billion in today's terms.

We have seen gradual changes to the structure of the pension market as a result of the shift from Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution schemes. Overall demand for gilts has, however, remained resilient throughout these periods of changing investor patterns and, as the OBR notes, these changes are widely known.

The government deliberately maintains a varied gilt issuance strategy to promote a well-diversified investor base, so that it is not overly reliant on demand from just one type of investor. Continuing to do so means that we expect that overall demand will remain robust in the future, even if there are changes in the demand patterns of particular investor groups.