THE PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN (Hansard, 3 April 1990)

§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard
I beg to move amendment No. 36, in page 8, line 30, at end insert—

§ Madam Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: Government amendments Nos. 50 to 52 and 38.
Amendment No. 9, in page 22, line 43, after 'year,'insert— 'which may include a report on any case or cases in which he has made an investigation,'. Government amendments Nos. 39 to 43, 53, 54, 44 to 46, 55, 47, 79, 50, 48, 80 and 81, 49 and 57.

§ Mrs. Shephard
This group of amendments also covers matters that were the subject of promises in Committee.
The effect of amendment No. 36 will be to include the pensions ombudsman in schedule 1 to the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971. That would mean that the council on tribunals would supervise that part of the ombudsman's jurisdiction which deals with the determination of the disputes of fact or law.
The effect of amendment No. 44 would be to enable the council on tribunals to be consulted about the rules governing that part of the ombudsman's jurisdiction which considers cases of maladministration. Amendments Nos. 45 an 46 are consequential on that.
The effect of amendment No. 38 is to bring the pensions ombudsman into line with powers already available to the Health Service commissioner, for example. It will provide the ombudsman with the power to delegate certain of his functions other than the determination of a dispute or complaint to his staff. That provision will allow the ombudsman's staff to require information or documents from those who hold them, and to examine witnesses on behalf of the ombudsman. The ombudsman would then weigh up the evidence available and reach a determination.
Amendments Nos. 39 and 42 deal with a matter that I promised in Committee to consider. Their effect will be to provide for the extension of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to cover employers and such other persons or bodies as are concerned with occupational and personal pension schemes, as well as the trustees or managers of a scheme.
Amendment No. 39 also provides that the Ombudsman could investigate cases that arise before this legislation has taken effect. Although the rights of scheme members are most dependent on the trustees or managers of a scheme, employers clearly have a role to play in the operation of schemes. Membership may arise out of the contract of employment, and of course the employer generally contributes to the scheme and collects the members' contributions. The employer is also likely to be involved when a bulk transfer takes place or when a scheme is wound up. This is to ensure that the pensions ombudsman covers bodies such as insurance companies when they are acting both as managers and as agents of the trustees or managers.
The effect of amendment No. 41 will be to widen the definition of an authorised complainant to include people who believe that they are entitled to be a member of a scheme but have been denied membership. Amendment No. 40 is consequential. Amendment No. 43 will clarify that a scheme member includes any person who is or has been in pensionable service under the scheme, and that those people will therefore be entitled to approach the pensions ombudsman.
Amendments Nos. 47 and 48, and 79 to 81, are minor legal amendments to do with appeals and with enforcing the ombudsman's determination in Scotland. The effect of amendment No. 49 is to give the pensions ombudsman the power to publish reports of individual cases he has investigated in whatever way he sees fit, if he thinks it would be appropriate for him to do so.
In Committee, I promised to consider the publication of case reports by the ombudsman. As I explained, we do not believe that the ombudsman should be required to publish details of all his investigations, but he should have the power to publish details of particular cases where he feels it is of particular significance. In other words, it is over to him. The ombudsman may wish to publish reports 1121 of cases of general interest, with the details of individual complaints anonymised. That provision therefore extends the ombudsman's powers of publication to reflect that intention, and protects him from the law of defamation.
Opposition amendment No. 9 would duplicate the intention of our amendment, giving the ombudsman the power to include details of individual cases in his annual report if he wished to do so. I therefore invite the Opposition to withdraw amendment No. 9.
Amendments Nos. 50 to 57 deal with the extension of those provisions to cover Northern Ireland directly. Under the Northern Ireland Act 1973, pensions are a transferred matter on which a devolved Northern Ireland administration may legislate. However, as occupational or personal pension schemes are usually offered on a United Kingdom basis, it is deemed practicable for the registrar of ocupational and personal pension schemes and the pensions ombudsman to be appointed on a United Kingdom-wide basis. Therefore, the appointment of those officers—but not their functions—becomes a matter for the Secretary of State for Social Security. I remind the House that the OPB itself is United Kingdomwide. Amendments Nos. 51 to 57 are technical amendments consequential on amendment No. 50. I commend them all the House.