HC Deb 20 November 2000 vol 357 cc68-9W
Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the additional cost which would result from increasing the stakeholder exemption limit to 20 employees. [137443]

Mr. Rooker

Exempting employers of less than 20 people from providing access to Stakeholder Pensions could affect over one million businesses and 1.89 million employees. There would be no additional cost.

Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what research has been carried out by his Department to estimate the additional costs of introducing stakeholder pensions to be met by smaller scale employers with numbers of employees just above the proposed exemption limits. [137442]

Mr. Rooker

The Regulatory Impact Assessment published with the Stakeholder Pension Scheme Regulations 2000 (SI 1403) set out estimates of the range of costs likely to be faced by employers in providing access to a stakeholder pension scheme. A copy of the Assessment is in the Library of the House.

Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the organisations consulted on the implementation of the proposals for stakeholder pensions; what proportion of those consulted raised concerns about the additional administrative work involved; and what changes were made as a result of the consultation. [137440]

Mr. Rooker

Over 400 organisations were consulted on our proposals for stakeholder pension schemes. There was a specific consultation on proposals for the employer access requirement on which more than 100 responses were received. These included responses from the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Several responses, by or on behalf of employers, expressed concerns about the likely administrative burden. The consultation proposals were subsequently amended to exempt employers with fewer than five employees from the requirement. An exemption was also added for employers who offer their employees at least a 3 per cent. contribution to a personal pension which meets certain conditions.

Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many recent representations he has had from employers and their representatives on the administrative work involved in the introduction of stakeholder pensions. [137441]

Mr. Rooker

We have not received any formal representations from employers or their representatives on the administrative work involved in providing access to stakeholder pension schemes since the consultation exercises (proposals for the employer access requirement were issued in June 1999, and the draft regulations in May 2000). However, we continue to receive inquiries from employers seeking clarification on the ways in which the employer access requirement will work.