§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 743, what safeguards are in place to protect the interests of the Exchequer in relation to any merger of a closed Maxwell pension scheme with another pension scheme. [14895]
§ Mr. HealdThe Secretary of State has indicated to each of the Maxwell pension schemes trustees on a scheme-by-scheme basis, the circumstances under which he is prepared to exercise discretion to defer the collection of state scheme premiums that are payable by them. He will review the position in the light of any proposal from trustees for a merger of a closed Maxwell scheme.
There are detailed agreements with Maxwell pension scheme trustees setting out the conditions under which grants from the Government's £2.5 million emergency funding support package, made available in June 1992, are repayable.