§ Mr. Eggarasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average time elapsing between the pension fund applying to the Inland Revenue for tax-free status and (a) interim approval being given by the Revenue and (b) final approval being given by the Revenue.
§ Mr. Peter ReesIt takes on average three months between an application for approval of a new occupational pension scheme and the authorisation of provisional relief for employees. Final approval depends on full documentation being produced by the applicant. This often368W takes a long time. Whilst final approval is possible in some cases within six months of application, the average time between application and final approval is two years.