Savings (Government Contributions) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-12-12
Topic: Labor
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Impact review: automatic enrolment and pensions savings— ‘(1) The Treasury must review the impact of Lifetime ISAs on workplace pensions automatic enrolment and pensions savings within one year of this Act coming into force and every year thereafter (2) The conclusions of the review must be made publicly available and laid before Parliament.’ This new clause would place a duty on HMRC to review annually the impact of Lifetime ISAs on automatic enrolment. New clause 3—Lifetime ISAs: Advice for applicants— ‘(1) The Treasury must, by regulations, make provision for all applicants for a Lifetime ISA to have independent financial advice made available to them regarding the decision whether or not to save in a Lifetime ISA (2) Any applicant that opts in to the services offered under subsection (1) shall be given a signed declaration by that service provider outlining the financial advice that the applicant has received (3) Any provider of a Lifetime ISA must confirm whether an applicant— (a) intends to use the Lifetime ISA for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of Schedule 1, (b) has a signed declaration of financial advice under subsection (2), or (c) is enrolled on a workplace pension scheme or is self-employed (4) Where the provider determines that the applicant is— (a) self-employed and does not participate in a pension scheme, (b) not enrolled on a workplace pension scheme, (c) does not intend to use the Lifetime ISA for the purposes of paragraph 7(1)(b) of Schedule 1, or (d) does not have a signed declaration of financial advice under subsection (2), the provider must inform the applicant about the independent financial advice available to them under subsection (1).’ This new clause would place a duty on the Treasury to make regulations that ensure all applicants for a Lifetime ISA have independent financial advice made available to them. New clause 4—First-time residential purchase: research and impact assessment— ‘(1) Within one year of this Act coming into force the Treasury must conduct a review into the potential impact of provisions within paragraph 7(1)(b) of Schedule 1 on— (a) house prices in the UK, and (b) the operation of the housing market (2) The findings of the review must be made publicly available and laid before Parliament.’ This new clause would require a review of the Bill’s effect on the UK housing market/house prices. New clause 5—Distributional analysis of the impact of the Lifetime ISA and Help to Save— ‘(1) Within six months of this Act coming into force the Treasury must conduct an analysis of the distribution of benefits of Lifetime ISAs and Help-to-Save accounts including between— (a) households at different levels of income, (b) people of different genders, (c) people with disabilities, and (d) black and minority ethnic groups (2) The findings of the analysis conducted under subsection (1) must be laid before Parliament.’ New clause 6—Lifetime ISA and Help-to-Save: value for money— ‘(1) Within six months of this Act coming into force the Treasury must assess the value for money provided by the Lifetime ISA and Help-to-Save scheme (2) The assessment must in particular include— (a) the cost to the Exchequer of the measures, (b) the number of individuals who have benefited from the measures, and (c) the average tax deduction received by an individual as a result of the measures (3) The findings of the assessment must be made publicly available.’ New clause 7—Advice for applicants— ‘The Treasury must make provision by regulations to ensure all providers of Lifetime ISAs or Help-to-Save accounts provide applicants, at the point of application, with advice about the suitability of the product in question for each individual applicant.’ This new clause would require advice to be provided to applicants for LISAs or Help-to-Save accounts which must include information on automatic enrolment and workplace saving schemes. Amendment 15, in clause 1, page 1, line 1, leave out clause 1 See explanatory statement for amendment 16. Amendment 17, in clause 3, page 2, line 17, leave out "1 or" Amendment 18, page 2, line 19, leave out "Lifetime ISA or" Amendment 19, page 2, line 23, leave out "Lifetime ISA or" Amendment 20, in clause 4, page 2, leave out lines 32 to 36 Amendment 21, page 3, leave out lines 9 to 11 Amendment 22, in clause 5, page 3, leave out line 23 Amendment 6, in clause 6, page 3, line 36, leave out from "on" to end of line 37 and insert "30 April 2019" This amendment would delay the commencement of the Bill until the end of April 2019, when all firms will be auto-enrolled and the increase in minimum contributions to eight per cent. will be completed. Amendment 16, page 5, line 1, leave out schedule 1 This amendment, together with amendments 15 and 17 to 22, would remove provisions for the Lifetime ISA from the Bill. Government amendment 3 Amendment 1, in schedule 2, page 16, line 3, leave out "48" and insert "24" Amendment 12, page 16, line 31, at end insert— "(1A) The conditions specified under subsection (1) shall not include the condition that the individual be over 25 years old if that individual meets all other specified conditions relating to the working tax credit." Currently those aged under 25 only qualify for Working Tax Credits if they work at least 16 hours a week. This amendment would ensure any individual aged under 25 would qualify for a Help-to-Save account if they met other specified criteria. Amendment 2, page 17, line 36, at end insert— "(d) a credit union." Amendment 8, page 18, line 16, leave out "maximum" and insert "average" See explanatory statement for amendment 11. Amendment 9, page 18, line 19, leave out "maximum" and insert "average" See explanatory statement for amendment 11. Amendment 10, page 18, line 19, after "means", insert "an average of" See explanatory statement for amendment 11. Amendment 11, page 18, line 19, after "£50", insert "across every two month period within the maturity period" Together with amendments 8, 9 and 10, this amendment would allow HTS to provide for "top-up" monthly payments above £50 so long as the average payment for every two months is £50. Government amendment 4 Amendment 14, page 19, line 2, at end insert— "(e) provision for eligible persons to be auto-enrolled into Help-to-Save accounts through deductions from salaries or benefit entitlements unless the individual chooses to opt-out." This amendment would enable an ‘auto-enrolment’ workplace saving scheme which would see an individual automatically signed up to a Help-to-Save account. He or she must opt-out to stop money being deducted from their pay or benefits into a savings account. Government amendment 5 Amendment 13, page 19, line 31, at end insert— "(3A) Where a bankruptcy order is made against a person with a Help-to-Save account any bonus paid into the Help-to-Save account will not form part of a debtor’s estate during insolvency proceedings (3B) Any bonus paid into a Help-to-Save account shall not be liable to be taken as repayment via third party debt orders." Amendment 7, page 20, line 23, at end insert— "(ba) for a bonus in respect of a Help-to-Save account to be paid after six calendar months beginning with the calendar month in which the account is opened and at six month intervals thereafter;" This amendment would reduce the time before the holder of a Help to Save account would receive a government bonus to six months.