HC Deb 19 July 1994 vol 247 cc201-2W
Mr. French

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the cost to the pensions industry of the proposed pensions regulator.

Mr. Hague

Initial estimates of the cost of the new regulatory authority which was announced in the White Paper, "Security, Equality, Choice", Cm 2594, are in the order of £10 million per annum. In addition, it is expected that there will be start-up costs of around £2 million. It is proposed that these costs will be met by an annual levy on occupational pension schemes.

Mr. Bates

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to consult on the levies to fund the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority and the compensation scheme, as announced in his White Paper "Security, Equality, Choice: The Future for Pensions", published on 23 June.

Mr. Hague

A consultation paper is being issued today. The paper explains how the levies will be structured, seeks views on how the costs of the levies should be distributed across the range of scheme sizes and gives some indication of the potential effect on schemes. It is being issued automatically to a number of interested parties and is available to others on request. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.