2 S.I.
2011/1294: Reported for defective drafting
Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) Amendment
Regulations 2011
(S.I. 2011/1294)
2.1 The Committee draws the special attention
of both Houses to these Regulations on the ground that they are
defectively drafted in two related respects.
2.2 Regulation 2(3) amends the Occupational Pension
Schemes (Contracting-out) Regulations 1996 by inserting a new
Schedule 3. Paragraph 4 of the Schedule requires the actuary,
on certifying a scheme as specified, to "inform the scheme"
in relation to availability of guidance and to inform the employer
that it should provide a copy of the completed certificate "to
the scheme".
2.3 In a memorandum printed at Appendix 2, the Department
for Work and Pensions agrees that the requirement to inform, and
provide a copy to, "the scheme" is insufficiently precise,
as a pension scheme does not itself have legal personality. The
phrase "the trustees or managers of the scheme" should
have been used instead. The Department undertakes to correct the
error at a convenient moment. The Committee accordingly reports
paragraph 4 of the new Schedule 3 for defective drafting, acknowledged
by the Department.
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