§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer) of 4 March 2000,Official Report, columns 22–23W, on stakeholder pensions, what plans he has to ensure the remaining 20 per cent. of employers who have not complied with the requirement to offer a stakeholder scheme, do so. [41694]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 8 March 2002]: 5,090 employers were recorded as designating a stakeholder scheme in January. The latest available figures show that up to the end of January 2002 a total of 316,811 employers had designated a stakeholder pension scheme for their workforces. This is over 85 per cent. of the number estimated to be obliged to do so.
The regulation of compliance with the stakeholder pension scheme workplace access requirement is a matter for the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra).
Opra will take proactive action to identify noncompliant employers later in the year having given employers a reasonable time to become familiar with their new responsibilities.