Lords Committee on intergenerational fairness and provision to open inquiry with evidence from David Willetts

The Committee is considering the long-term implications of Government policy on intergenerational fairness and provision and is expected to report by the end of March 2019. The Committee's inquiry will focus particularly on the role of Housing, Jobs and Communities in intergenerational fairness.

The evidence session with Lord Willetts will start at 11:40am on Tuesday 10 July in Committee Room 4A of the House of Lords.

The evidence session will focus on proposals made in the final report by the Intergenerational Commission, convened by the Resolution Foundation and chaired by Lord Willetts. These will include:

• Whether the intergenerational contract between generations is under threat?
• To what extent younger workers have a better or worse experience of the labour market than the previous generations?
• Whether tax changes could contribute to greater fairness in the housing market?
• Whether the planning process incentivises provision of suitable housing both for young people and older people?
• The role of communities and intergenerational contact in achieving a new intergenerational settlement.

Speaking ahead of the session Lord True, Chairman of the Committee, said:

“The notion of intergenerational fairness has recently become the subject of increased interest and debate. There is clearly a perception that the younger generations face new challenges that their predecessors did not.

“Rather than seek to divide groups and align them against each other, a more constructive approach would be to consider how we can use the gifts and circumstances of each generation to benefit others. Life is not a snapshot; we are all moving on a continuum across the generations.

“Our inquiry will seek to get to the bottom of three important aspects in this area: housing, jobs and the role of communities. I hope we will be able to provide some innovative proposals to influence the debate and make progress on these key issues. Our evidence session with Lord Willetts, who has become very well known for his research on intergenerational fairness, will help us kick off our inquiry and frame our thinking.”