HC Deb 28 January 1992 vol 202 cc513-4W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what monitoring of the levels of employer provision for occupational pension funds takes place by Her Majesty's Government; and if he will make a statement on the current trends in provision.

Miss Widdecombe

The monitoring of pension funds is a function of the Occupational Pensions Board—OPB—

Asbestos related diseases
References Prescribed disease Postive diagnosis Prescribed disease
Medical Boarding Centre D1 D3 D8 D9 Total D1 D3 D8 D9 Total
1988
Cardiff 65 35 32 42 174 22 32 7 17 78
Glasgow 154 77 26 13 270 42 73 11 5 131
London 118 178 41 63 400 46 162 10 20 238
Manchester 131 71 32 27 261 30 61 9 10 110
Newcastle 121 77 49 31 278 17 74 13 22 126
Sheffield 62 51 15 41 169 25 49 4 32 110
Stoke 29 19 12 9 69 17 19 4 4 44
Swansea 8 10 7 8 33 3 9 1 4 17
ALL CENTRES 688 518 214 234 1,654 202 479 59 114 854
1989
Cardiff 67 55 24 39 185 36 51 8 20 115
Glasgow 167 57 26 30 280 75 55 11 21 162
London 114 148 34 43 339 48 134 7 17 206
an independent statutory body, and the Inland Revenue. The OPB monitoring is focused on the ability of a fund which is used for contracting out of state earnings-related pensions to meet its liability for guaranteed minimum pensions, and not on the level of the employer's provision. The Inland Revenue monitors occupational pension funds which are tax approved and have 12 or more members by requiring an actuarial valuation every 3.5 years.