He has referred indirectly to an understanding of the growing problem, and I very much look forward to his and the department’s comments in due course.
I have every confidence that the Chancellor will be addressing this. The Department for Work and Pensions reported in February 2017, identifying this as a major problem for the private sector in industry and commerce-and, indeed, in the Civil Service-but did not provide any solutions. That means that gilt rates, in particular, are so small that provision for pensions is not growing as fast as demand. The problems are that the liabilities of the pension schemes are growing, and the promised increase in the final payment made in the private sector to those who retire looking forward to a decent pension is coming under great pressure for the simple reason that interest rates have been extremely low for a number of years now. I declare my past interest as a chairman of one of the large pension schemes in this country. The financial position of private sector pension schemes-10 million people in this country are covered by such schemes-is in difficulty at present. I am greatly indebted to him and his staff for monitoring the situation, which is growing to alarming proportions. My Lords, I shall concentrate my remarks on the problems faced by private sector pension schemes in this country, something that the Chancellor is very well aware of.