Instruments of interest
DRAFT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME (MISCELLANEOUS
AMENDMENTS) REGULATIONS 2007
1. The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) was
set up to provide assistance to members of occupational pension
schemes which started insolvency proceedings between 1 January
1997 and 5 April 2005. FAS was originally designed to help only
the scheme members closest to retirement who had suffered significant
losses, but its coverage has been gradually extended. Following
an announcement made in the Budget in March 2007, the draft Financial
Assistance Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2007
further extend eligibility to assistance from the scheme. They
remove the tapered assistance levels that currently apply so that
80 per cent core assistance (subject to the cap) is available
to all eligible qualifying members at age 65, regardless of how
far away they were from their scheme pension age on 14 May 2004.
The Regulations also increase the cap on maximum assistance from
£12,000 to £26,000; and remove the de minimis rule that
excludes those whose FAS payment would be £10 or less a week.
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