§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Buckingham constituency have taken out stakeholder pensions. [24866]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe information is not available.
§ Adam PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many stakeholder pension plans have been sold in(a) Wales, and (b) the other regions of the UK; [23962]
(2) of those stakeholder pensions sold in Wales, how many have been transferred from existing pension plans; [23959]
(3) how many firms in (a) Wales and (b) the other regions of the UK, have made provision for stakeholder pensions for their work force. [24012]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows
Number of stakeholder pensions sold: 491,694Number of employers who have designated stakeholder pension schemes: 284,821Note:
Figures cover all United kingdom and show the position at the end of October 2001.
Source:
Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The ABI has reported that over three-quarters of those employers required to do so had designated a stakeholder pension scheme for their staff by the end of October. We know that other designations were in progress at that time.
We should also remember that stakeholder pensions have led to other improvements in pension provision. Charges on personal pensions have fallen as a result of stakeholder pensions, and employers have also widened their schemes to cover more of their work forces. This means more people are able to save for their retirement.
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