§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those local offices whose allocation of social fund moneys has now been reduced following the discovery of a computer error; and if he will detail the amount of the reduction for each office.
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§ Mr. ScottThe information requested is in the table. The table also shows the level of extra allocation districts were allowed to retain over and above allocations due to them under the national formula in order to minimise any disruption that might otherwise have occurred.
District Reduction Retained £ £ Bankside 51,860 27,287 Bradford (Grants) 84,083 38,028 City East 44,564 24,855 Euston (Grants) 47,358 25,786 Euston 26,629 18,876 Liverpool, North (Grants) 46,247 25,416 Liverpool, North 54,440 28,147 Liverpool, South (Grants) 77,811 35,937 Newham (Grants) 23,303 17,768 Newham 36,946 22,315 Lothian, West 75,659 35,220 Neasdon (Grants) 95,735 41,912 Neasdon 118,178 49,393 Oldham (Grants) 7,145 12,382 Staffordshire, North (Grants) 40,735 23,578 Swansea (Grants) 10,945 13,648 Worcestershire, North 69,712 33,237 Amounts refer to the loans budget unless otherwise indicated.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will introduce further regulations to amend the law concerning occupational and personal pension schemes.
§ Mr. LilleyI have today laid before Parliament regulations which make a number of amendments in the field of occupational and personal pension schemes.
The regulations tighten existing regulations relating to the disclosure of information by trustees and administrators of occupational and personal pension schemes. The new regulations lay down time limits within which information must be disclosed to members, prospective members, beneficiaries and trade unions. They require schemes to disclose additional information following the introduction of provisions to the Social Security Act 1990, in particular, schemes must disclose:
- the functions and address of the Pensions Ombudsman; the role and address of the Occupational Pensions Advisory Service Ltd.;
- whether an independent trustee has been appointed by an insolvency practitioner in relation to the sponsoring employer, who he is, and, if not, why not;
- whether the scheme has registered with the registrar of occupational and personal pension schemes;
- whether trustees have access to guidance published by the Occupational Pensions Board on "Pension Trust Principles".
The regulations make a number of technical amendments to definitions in the Disclosure of Information Regulations and to the form of the actuary's statement.
The regulations also extend the circumstances in which small amounts of pension may be commuted to a lump sum and make a number of technical amendments to the Preservation Regulations, the Levy Regulations and the Register of Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes Regulations.
The amendments in relation to commutation and to the Levy and Register Regulations will come into force on 20 July 1992; the remainder of the regulations will come into effect on 28 September 1992.
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§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he intends to respond to the report of the Social Security Select Committee on the operation of pension funds.
§ Mr. LilleyThe Government's response to the Select Committee's report is published today. We have accepted the main recommendation of the Committee
the Government should establish an inquiry operating within a strict timetable to collect evidence from the public on what the detailed structure of a new Pensions Act should be".As I announced to the House on 8 June, I have set up a committee to examine the administration and regulation of pension schemes under the chairmanship of Professor Goode of Oxford university. Most of the Select Committee's recommendations fall within the terms of reference of the Goode committee. The Government's response to the Select Committee therefore deals specifically with those areas not covered by the review.