§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people will benefit from his proposal to remove the age limit of 26 years for entitlement to preservation of occupational pensions; and how many others will benefit if the requirement to have five years' service in a scheme were (a) reduced to three years and (b) removed entirely.
§ Dr. BoysonI regret that the information is not available. The responses we received to our consultative document on early leavers suggested that in practice the age limit now has little significance. Ninety per cent. of members of occupational pension schemes (those contracted-out) must already have their benefits preserved after five years' service.