INFORMATION ABOUT AND REGISTRATION OF OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES (Hansard, 19 April 1985)

HC Deb 19 April 1985 vol 77 cc509-11 509

§ Amendments made: No. 65, in page 31, leave out lines 25 to 36 and insert — 'The registrar of occupational pension schemes

§ 56B.—

(1) The Secretary of State may appoint a registrar of occupational pension schemes.
(2) The registrar may be a body corporate.
(3) The Secretary of State may set up such offices and appoint such staff as he thinks necessary for the registrar.
(4) The registrar may appoint an agent to perform functions on his behalf, other than excluded functions, and in this section "registration agent" means an agent appointed under this subsection.
(5) In subsection (4) above "excluded functions" means—

(c)functions under any of the following provisions of this Act—

(i)section 56D(5) to (7);
(ii)section 56H(2) and (3);
(iii)sections 56K to 56M;
(iv)section 56O;

(b)functions under any Northern Ireland enactment corresponding to a provision mentioned in paragraph (a) above.

(6) An appointment under subsection (4) above shall be on such terms as the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the Treasury, may approve.
(7) The Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit—

(a)remove the registrar from office; and
(b)direct that the appointment of a registration agent be terminated.

(8) The amount—
1. (a)of any salaries for the registrar and his staff; and
2. (b)of any sums to be paid in respect of expenses incurred by the registrar in performing his functions,
shall be fixed by the Secretary of State with the concurrence of the Treasury.
(9) The expenses referred to in subsection (8) above include payments falling to be made to a registration agent.
(10)The Secretary of State may by regulations—

(a)give the registrar additional functions; and
(b)provide for the manner in which the registrar is to perform any of his functions.

(11)In relation to functions of the registrar that are being performed by a registration agent, references to the registrar in this Part of this Act or in any corresponding Northern Ireland enactment are references to the registration agent.
(12) If the registrar or a registration agent is a body corporate, this Part of this Act and any corresponding Northern Ireland enactment shall have effect in relation to that body subject to any necessary modifications.'.

§ No. 67 in page 31, line 42, leave out 'of any document comprising the scheme' and insert —

(i) of the trust deed constituting the scheme, if it is constituted by such a deed; and
(ii) of any document constituting the scheme, if it is not constituted by a trust deed;'.

No. 68, in page 31, line 44, leave out 'such document' and insert trust deed or other document which falls to be lodged under subparagraph (i) or (ii) above'.

§ No. 69, in page 32, line 1, after 'amends', insert 'or supplements or wholly or partly supersedes'.

§ No. 70, in page 32, leave out lines 15 to 34.

§ No. 71, in page 33, line 11, after 'time' insert 'and in such manner'

§ No. 72, in page 33, line 13, leave out from 'scheme' to end of line 16.

§ No. 73, in page 33, line 18, leave out '(2)' and insert '(10)'.

§ No. 74, in page 34, line 27, leave out 'trustees and managers of occupational pension schemes' and insert 'the trustees of an occupational pension scheme or, if there are no trustees, the managers'.

§ No. 75, in page 34, line 33, at end insert 'not later than the end of such period as may be prescribed'.

§ No. 76, in page 34, line 44, leave out 'define' and insert 'prescribe'.

§ No. 77, in page 34, line 45, leave out 'and' and insert 'or

(b)provide that the persons who may so act shall be—

(i) persons with prescribed professional qualifications or experience; or
(ii) Persons approved by the Secretary of State.

§ (3A) The Secretary of State may by regulations'.—[Mr. Newton.]

§ Mr. Newton
I beg to move amendment No. 78, in page 35, leave out lines 28 to 41.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 79, 86 and 89.

§ Mr. Newton
This is an amendment of which I am rather proud, as a simplication of our original proposals. For some unearthly reason we had tried to specify the paper, the colour of the paper and various other things in relation to documents lodged with the registrar. This seemed to me so absurd that we have taken it out.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment made: No. 79, in page 35, line 44, leave out 'material other than a document' and insert 'other material;.—[Mr. Newton.]
Amendment proposed: No. 80, in page 36, leave out lines 41 to 44 and insert— '(a) fees which, on performing a duty imposed'. —[Mr. Newton.]

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 81 and 82.

§ Mrs. Beckett
We do not see any reason why, under amendment No. 81, the trustees and managers of the scheme should pay the registrar out of the resources available for the purposes of the scheme. There are many circumstances in which employers would normally pay such fees rather than their coming out of the resources of such a scheme. I ask the Minister to consider this.

§ Mr. Newton
The hon. Lady is right. The amendments make it clear that any registration fees will be payable by 511 the scheme trustees or managers out of the scheme's resources and not out of their own pockets. We agree that they should not be expected to pay them out of their own pockets, and that it is reasonable that the charges necessary for the proper operation of the scheme in the public interest should be met by the scheme.

§ Amendment agreed to.

§ It being Ten o'clock, further consideration of the Bill stood adjourned.

§ Ordered, That, at this day's sitting, the Social Security Bill may be proceeded with, though opposed, until any hour.—[Mr. Neubert.]

§ As amended, again considered.

§ Amendments made: No. 81, in page 36, line 47, at end insert 'the trustees or managers of an occupational pension scheme are to pay the registrar out of the resources available for the purposes of the scheme'.

§ No. 82, in page 37, line 1, leave out 'by any' and insert 'fees which are to be paid to the registrar by a'.

§ No. 83, in page 37, line 32, leave out from 'if' to 'shall' in line 36 and insert 'any of the requirements—

(a)of section 56C above or regulations under that section; or
(b)of regulations under section 56E(1)(c) above,

is not complied with in relation to a scheme, every person who immediately before the end of the period for compliance was a person whose duty it was to comply with it'.

§ No. 84, in page 37, line 42, leave out 'their first conviction for it' and insert 'the conviction'.

§ No. 85, in page 37, line 43, leave out from beginning to end of line 3 on page 38 and insert —

§ '(2) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1) above in respect of any requirement, subject to subsection (2A) below, it shall be a defence for him to prove

(a)that the commission of the offence was due to a mistake or to reliance on information supplied to him or to the act or default of another person, an accident or some other cause beyond his control; and
(b)that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of such an offence by himself or any person under his control.

§ (2A) If in any such case the defence provided by subsection (2) above involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person or to reliance on information supplied by another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless, within a period ending seven clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in his possession.'.

§ No. 86, in page 38, leave out lines 4 to 19.

§ No. 87, in page 38, at end insert 'or regulations under that section'.

§ No. 88, in page 38, line 40, at end insert— '(A) The Secretary of State may by regulations specify forms for notices under subsection (1) above.'.

§ No. 89, in page 39, leave out lines 19 to 21.—[Mr.Newton.]