Pension Funds (Hansard, 29 November 1993)

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the exact sums remaining in the railway pensions fund; and what is the actuarial assessment of the amount needed to meet the pension benefits of past and present employees.

§ Mr. Freeman
This is a matter for the British Rail Pension Trustee Company and the individual management committees of the various BR pension schemes, as appropriate.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements he has made for adjudication in the case of a dispute between actuaries working for the railway pension fund and actuaries working for the Government.

§ Mr. Freeman
In the unlikely event of a difference of opinion between the actuaries, it will be for the trustees, or my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State where he is involved, to reach their own views after taking whatever advice they consider appropriate.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the measures he is taking to safeguard pension funds in cases where privatised transport industries become insolvent.

§ Mr. Freeman
Where transport industries have been privatised, measures have been taken to safeguard the accrued rights of pensioners and active members of the industries' pension schemes up to the point of privatisation. When employees move into the private sector, any pension scheme operated by their new employer will continue to be subject to the general legal framework which applies to all such occupational pension schemes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has responsibility for such matters and announced in the House, on 3 November, that he will be issuing discussion papers as a basis for detailed exchanges with interested parties on matters arising from recommendations of the Pensions Law Review Committee.