Compensation for Equitable Life policyholders

That this House notes the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report into Equitable Life; acknowledges its finding of a decade of maladministration by Government Departments and their regulators and its recommendation for full financial redress; further notes the then Government’s acceptance of the report’s findings and how much individuals lost in retirement savings because of the maladministration; supports the principle that where the state has accepted responsibility for a failure, as well as the financial losses flowing from it, full redress should be provided; notes that of the £4.1billion losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders only £1.5 billion was made available for compensation; expresses deep concern that an estimated £180 million of that severely limited compensation is set to be kept by the Treasury and not reach the individuals affected; and calls on the Government to ensure that the full value of the £1.5 billion compensation announced to and authorised by Parliament is paid to policyholders, including to the most elderly and vulnerable pre-1992 with-profits annuitants who were excluded from the Equitable Life Payments Scheme on a technicality.