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WORK AND PENSIONS

Pension Schemes 2003–04

The Minister for Pensions (Mr. Ian McCartney): I am pleased to announce that there will be no increase in the General Levy rates for 2003–04. Rates will remain at the 2000–01 level as set out in the tables, due to buoyant levy receipts and good housekeeping.

I am also pleased to announce that although some payments have been made out of the pension compensation fund, it will not be necessary to raise a Compensation Levy in 2003–04.

The Government's Green Paper, "Simplicity, Security and Choice: Working and Saving for retirement", Cm 5677, published 17 December 2002, sets out plans for a new, risk-focused pensions regulator, which also provides support, advice and guidance to the pensions industry.

The General Levy rates for 2003–04 are as follows:

Table 1—Occupational Pension Schemes

Scheme Size(Number ofMembers)	Basis	Amount perMember	Minimum Payment Per Scheme 1
2 to 11	£12 Per scheme	-	-
12 to 99	Per Member	£1.25	-
100 to 999	Per Member	£0.90	£125
1,000 to 4999	Per Member	£0.70	£900
5,000 to 9,999	Per member	£0.53	£3,500
10,000 or more	Per member	£0.37	£5,300

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Table 2—Personal Pension Schemes

Scheme Size (Number ofMembers)	Basis	Amount perMember	Minimum Payment Per Scheme 1
2 to 11	£5.20 Per scheme	-	-
12 to 99	Per Member	£0.50	-
100 to 999	Per Member	£0.35	£50
1,000 to 4,999	Per Member	£0.30	£350
5,000 to 9,999	Per member	£0.20	£1,500
10,000 or more	Per member	£0.15	£2,000

Note: 1. Minimum payments ensure that schemes in the lower bands do not pay more overall than those the higher bands

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Employment Relations Act

The Minister for Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions (Alan Johnson): I have today placed in the Libraries of the House copies of a consultation document as part of the Government's review of the Employment Relations Act 1999.1 have also placed in the Libraries copies of the draft regulations prohibiting the blacklisting of trade unionists, which arose from the review. The review was announced on 11 July by the Secretary of State, with the following terms of reference:

The Government has reformed the labour market to build a durable and fair basis for constructive employment relations. By a range of measures, the UK labour market is achieving high levels of employment and combining fairness and flexibility.


In line with commitments made in the 1998 Fairness at Work White Paper, the Government will review the operation of the statutory union recognition and derecognition procedures in the Employment Relations Act 1999. The review will also look at the operation of the other provisions of the Act.


The review will be carried out by the DTI through full public consultation. The DTI will complete this task to a timetable enabling any legislative recommendations which the review may make to be introduced within the lifetime of this Parliament.

Based on the evidence, the review has found that the Act is working well. The review has concluded that the central pillars of the Act should remain unchanged, but it makes a number of proposals to amend other parts of the Act to improve their practical operation. The consultation document also presents the Government's proposals to change trade union law in line with the judgment reached on 2 July by the European Court of Human Rights in the Wilson and Palmer case. The consultation period ends on 22 May.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Hong Kong

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell): The twelfth Report on the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong was published today and copies have been placed in the Library of

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the House. A copy of the Report is also available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website http://www.fco.gov.uk/. The Report includes a foreword by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. I commend the Report to the House.

European Union Council Business(March-September 2003)

The Minister for Europe (Mr. Denis MacShane): The business for the period March to September is as follows: MARCH

1 -2—Athens—Informal Education

3—Brussels—Competitiveness Council

4—Brussels—Environment Council

6—Brussels—Meeting of the Presidium

6—Luxembourg—Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs

6—Brussels—EUROGROUP (Evening)

7—Brussels—ECOFIN

7—Luxembourg—Transport, Telecom & Energy Council

13—Brussels—Meeting of the Presidium

14–15- Athens—(Informal Defence Meeting)

17–18- Brussels—Convention Plenary

17–18- Luxembourg—Agriculture & FisheriesCouncil

18–19—Brussels—General Affairs & External Relations Council (GAERC)

21—Brussels—EUROPEAN COUNCIL

27—Brussels—Meeting of the Presidium

27–28—Luxembourg—Transport, Telecom & Energy Council

27–28—Brussels—EU-RIO Group, EU MERCOSUR

28–29—Veria—Informal Justice & Home Affairs

31—Brussels—Agriculture & Fisheries Council (to be confirmed)

Date	Location	Event
April
2	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
3–4	Brussels	Convention Plenary
4	Brussels	Justice & Home Affairs
4–6	Hania (Crete)	Informal ECOFIN (Ministerial)
5	Lisbon	Europe—Africa Summit
10	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
14–15	Luxembourg	General Affairs & External Relations
14	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries
16	Athens	Signature Of The Accession Treaty
17	Athens	European Conference
23	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
24–25	Brussels	Convention Plenary
May
2–4	Olympia	Gymnich (Informal Foreign Ministers)
3–4	Athens	Informal Environment (Ministerial Informal)
5–6	Brussels	Education, Youth & Culture Council (To be confirmed)
8	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
	Corfu	Agriculture (Ministerial Informal)
12–13	Brussels	Competitiveness
12	Brussels	EUROGRUP
13	Brussels	ECOFIN
14	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
14	Brussels	Transport, Telecom & Energy Council
15–16	Brussels	Convention Plenary
16	Brussels	EU–ACP Ministerial
16-17	Halkidiki	Informal Regional Policy (Ministerial)
16–18	Cruise off Greece	Informal Transport & Merchant Marine (Ministerial)
17	Brussels	EU–W. Balkans (Zagreb Process)
19	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations (+ Defence)
20	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations
22	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
24	Thessaloniki	Informal Culture (Ministerial)
26–27	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
26–27	Crete	EUROMED Conference (Mid Term Ministerial)
27	Brussels	Environment Council
28	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
30–31	Brussels	Convention Plenary
31	St Petersburg	EU—Russia Summit
June
2	Brussels	EUROGROUP
12–13	Alexandroupoli	Development Co-operation (Ministerial Informal)
2–3	Brussels	Transport, Telecom & Energy Council
3	Brussels	ECOFIN
4	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
5–6	Brussels	Convention Plenary
5–6	Brussels	Justice & Home Affairs Council
5–6	Brussels	Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Council
6	Rhodes	Public Administration (Ministerial Informal)
11	Brussels	Meeting of the Presidium
11–12	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
12–13	Brussels	Convention Plenary
17–18	Luxembourg	General Affairs & External Relations
20	Halkidiki	EUROPEAN COUNCIL
21	Halkidiki	Zagreb II Summit
22	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations
24	Brussels	Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Council
July
2–3	Rome	Research Ministerial Informal)
4–5	Naples	Transport Infrastructure (Ministerial Informal)
6	Brussels	Trade (Ministerial Informal)
10	Varese	Informal Council/Troika
11–12	Varese	Informal Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs
15–16	Brussels	ECOFIN
11–12	Varese	Informal Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs
15–16	Brussels	ECOFIN
17–18	Treviso	EU Employment Committee (Informal)
18–20	Montecatini	Energy & Environment (Ministerial Informal)
22–23	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
22	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations
24–25	Milan	European Conference on Discrimination
25–26	Verona	Education (Ministerial Informal)
August		No Meetings Planned
September
3–5	Viterbo	Telecommunications (Ministerial Informal)
12–14	Stresa	ECOFIN (Informal Council)
19–20	Rome	Justice & Internal Affairs (Informal Council)
22–23	Brussels	Competition (Internal Market, Industry & Research)
29–30	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations
29–30	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council

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