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Publishing reports
Malcolm Wicks
NC31
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) The Board may, if it considers it appropriate to do so in any particular case, publish a report of the exercise of, or any matter arising out of or connected with the exercise of, any of its functions in that case.
(2) The publication of a report under subsection (1) may be in such form and manner as the Board considers appropriate.
(3) For the purposes of the law of defamation, the publication of any matter by the Board is privileged unless the publication is shown to be made with malice.'.
No indemnification for fines or civil penalties
Malcolm Wicks
NC32
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) No amount may be paid out of the assets of an occupational or personal pension scheme for the purpose of reimbursing, or providing for the reimbursement of, any trustee or manager of the scheme in respect of—
| (a) | a fine imposed by way of penalty for an offence of which he is convicted, or |
| (b) | a penalty which he is required to pay under or by virtue of section 10 of the Pensions Act 1995 (c.26) or section 168(4) of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 (c.48) (civil penalties). |
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), providing for the reimbursement of a trustee or manager in respect of a fine or penalty includes (among other things) providing for the payment of premiums in respect of a policy of insurance where the risk is or includes the imposition of such a fine or the requirement to pay such a penalty.
(3) Where any amount is paid out of the assets of an occupational or personal pension scheme in contravention of this section, section 10 of the Pensions Act 1995 (c.26) (civil penalties) applies to any trustee or manager who fails to take all reasonable steps to secure compliance.
(4) Where a trustee or manager of an occupational or personal pension scheme—
| (a) | is reimbursed, out of the assets of the scheme or in consequence of provision for his reimbursement made out of those assets, in respect of any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b), and |
| (b) | knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, that he has been reimbursed as mentioned in paragraph (a), |
then, unless he has taken all reasonable steps to secure that he is not so reimbursed, he is guilty of an offence.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable—
| (a) | on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, and |
| (b) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both.'. |
Increase in age at which short service benefit must be payable
Malcolm Wicks
NC33
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) In section 71 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 (c.48) (basic principle as to short service benefit), for subsection (3) substitute—
"(3) Subject to subsection (4), short service benefit must be made payable as from an age which is no greater than—
| (b) | if in the member's case normal pension age is greater than 65, normal pension age." |
(2) In section 72 of that Act (no discrimination between short service and long service beneficiaries), at the end add—
"(4) This section is subject to subsections (3) and (6) of section 71 (age at which short service benefit is to be payable).".'.
Consultation by employers: occupational pension schemes
Malcolm Wicks
NC34
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Regulations may require any prescribed person who is the employer in relation to an occupational pension scheme and who—
| (a) | proposes to make a prescribed decision in relation to the scheme, or |
| (b) | has been notified by the trustees or managers of the scheme that they propose to make a prescribed decision in relation to the scheme, |
to consult prescribed persons in the prescribed manner before the decision is made.
(2) Regulations may require the trustees or managers of an occupational pension scheme not to make a prescribed decision in relation to the scheme unless—
| (a) | they have notified the employer of the proposed decision, and |
| (b) | they are satisfied that the employer has undertaken any consultation required by virtue of subsection (1). |
(3) The validity of any decision made in relation to an occupational pension scheme is not affected by any failure to comply with regulations under this section.
(4) Section (Further provisions about regulations relating to consultation by employers) contains further provisions about regulations under this section.'.
As an Amendment to Malcolm Wicks' proposed New Clause (NC34) (Consultation by employers: occupational pension schemes):
Mr David Willetts
Mr Nigel Waterson
Mr George Osborne
Mr Peter Atkinson
Gregory Barker
(a)
*Line 21, at end insert—
'(5) A prescribed decision for these purposes is defined as one of the following:
| (a) | closing a scheme to future accruals; |
| (b) | closing a scheme to new members; |
| (c) | changing from a defined benefits to a defined contribution basis; |
| (d) | significantly reducing or removing an employer contribution to a defined contribution scheme. |
(6) The prescribed persons to be consulted hereunder will not include trade unions where an employer has established procedures for directly consulting employees in an alternative manner.'.
Consultation by employers: personal pension schemes
Malcolm Wicks
NC35
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Regulations may require any prescribed person who—
| (a) | is the employer in relation to a personal pension scheme where direct payment arrangements exist in respect of one or more members of the scheme who are his employees, and |
| (b) | proposes to make a prescribed decision affecting the application of the direct payment arrangements in relation to those employees, |
to consult prescribed persons in the prescribed manner before he makes the decision.
(2) The validity of any decision prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) is not affected by any failure to comply with regulations under this section.
(3) Section (Further provisions about regulations relating to consultation by employers) contains further provisions about regulations under this section.'.
Further provisions about regulations relating to consultation by employers
Malcolm Wicks
NC36
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) In this section "consultation regulations" means regulations under section (Consultation by employers: occupational pension schemes) or (Consultation by employers: personal pension schemes).
(2) Consultation regulations may—
| (a) | make provision about the time to be allowed for consultation; |
| (b) | prescribe the information which must be provided to the persons who are required to be consulted; |
| (c) | confer a discretion on the employer in prescribed cases as to the persons who are to be consulted; |
| (d) | make provision about the representatives the employees may have for the purposes of the regulations and the methods by which those representatives are to be selected; |
| (e) | require or authorise the holding of ballots; |
| (f) | amend, apply with or without modifications, or make provision similar to, any provision of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (c.18) (including, in particular, Parts 5, 10 and 13), the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (c.17) or the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c.52); |
| (g) | enable any requirement for consultation imposed by the regulations to be waived or relaxed by order of the Regulator; |
| (h) | require the employer to communicate to the trustees and managers of the scheme any representations received by the employer in response to any consultation required by the regulations. |
(3) Persons on whom obligations are imposed by consultation regulations, either as employers or as the trustees or managers of occupational pension schemes, must, if so required by the Regulator, provide information to the Regulator about the action taken by them for the purpose of complying with the regulations.
(4) Consultation regulations may make provision as to—
| (a) | the information to be provided under subsection (3); |
| (b) | the form and manner in which the information is to be provided; |
| (c) | the period within which the information is to be provided. |
(5) Nothing in consultation regulations is to be regarded as affecting any duty to consult arising otherwise than under the regulations.'.
As Amendments to Malcolm Wicks' proposed New Clause (NC36) (Further provisions about regulations relating to consultation by employees):
Mr David Willetts
Mr Nigel Waterson
Mr George Osborne
Mr Peter Atkinson
Gregory Barker
(a)
*Line 13, after 'ballots', insert 'where it is necessary for the purpose of selecting employee representatives.'.
Mr David Willetts
Mr Nigel Waterson
Mr George Osborne
Mr Peter Atkinson
Gregory Barker.
(b)
*Line 34, at end insert—
'(6) The discretion on an employer as to the persons who are to be consulted in subsection (2)(C) above shall be mandatory in cases where an employer has existing arrangements in place for direct consultation with employees.'.
Interim Pension Protection Fund
Mr David Willetts
Mr Nigel Waterson
Mr George Osborne
Mr Peter Atkinson
Adam Price
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) The Interim Pension Protection Fund shall consist of—
| (a) | property and rights transferred to the Board from salary-related occupational pension schemes— |
| (i) | to which section 56 of the Pensions Act 1995 (c. 26) applies; |
| (ii) | which are being wound up prior to the coming into force of Part 2 of this Act; and |
| (iii) | where prima facie there is a shortfall of assets to meet all obligations to current and future pensioners thereunder, and |
| (b) | proceeds of the interim levy upon unclaimed assets. |
(2) Regulations must make provision for imposing a levy ("the interim levy") to be applied to unclaimed assets.
(3) The regulations must prescribe—
| (a) | the identification of unclaimed assets for the purposes of this Act, |
| (b) | the factors by reference to which the interim levy is to be assessed, |
| (c) | the rate of the levy, and |
| (d) | the time or times during the interim period when the levy becomes payable. |
(4) The Board shall have the same powers of compensation in respect of schemes hereunder as those set out in section 124 and Schedule 7 of this Act.
(5) In no circumstances may any of the proceeds of the levies established pursuant to sections 136 and 137 of this Act be applied for the purposes of this section.'.
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