§ Mr. Tim Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many applications to contract out in accordance with the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 have been received by the Occupational Pensions Board; of these, how many have been processed and a certificate issued and how many are currently being processed; and how many additional applications the Occupational Pensions Board expects to receive before 23rd March 1978.
§ Mr. OrmeI am advised by the Occupational Pensions Board that, as at 2nd December 1977, the position on contracting out applications was as follows:
Applications received 2,970 Certificates issued 608 Applications being processed 2,362 It is not possible to make a reliable estimate of the total number of contracting out applications which will be received, but the Board's planning is based on the assumption that it might be of the order of 15,000.