HC Deb 30 October 2000 vol 355 cc258-9W
Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action the Financial Services Authority is taking against personal pension schemes that have been labelled stakeholder-friendly that do not conform with the requirements of the scheme. [134647]

Mr. Rooker

The Financial Services Authority continues to monitor "stakeholder friendly" advertisements and reviews the selling of personal pensions as part of its ongoing supervision of firms. Clearly it is not right for consumers to be misled into thinking that a personal pension meets all the prospective stakeholder standards if it does not.

Providers should satisfy themselves that they are acting in compliance with the guidance on the selling of personal pensions issued in October of last year by the Financial Services Authority.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate the Government have made of the likely share of the pension market that will be taken by stakeholder pensions. [134559]

Mr. Rooker

What share of the pensions market that will be taken by stakeholder pensions will depend on the marketing of stakeholder pensions by providers and on individual choices by savers.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many employees of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority will be responsible for checking that the administration of stakeholder pensions meets the conditions laid down in the relevant regulations. [134528]

Mr. Rooker

The Authority currently has a small team working full-time on the registration of stakeholder pension schemes and developing regulatory procedures, together with a number of staff who work partly on the stakeholder pensions project alongside other duties. The Authority has not yet determined how many staff will be employed on stakeholder pensions once schemes begin operating. That will depend on the total number of schemes which are registered, the number of reported breaches, and the approach the Authority decides to take in fulfilling its regulatory responsibilities.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what checks will be made to ensure the stakeholder pension schemes keep to the 1 per cent. administration charge limit; and how frequently these checks will be made. [134529]

Mr. Rooker

The Stakeholder Pension Scheme Regulations 2000 (SI 1403) require the trustees or managers of schemes to make a written statement at least once a year, describing the scheme's compliance with the regulations which impose limits on the amount of charges and the manner in which charges may be made. Schemes must also appoint a reporting accountant and obtain the reporting accountant's opinion on the statement. We are in discussions with representatives of the accountancy profession on the form of the reporting accountant's opinion.

The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) will be responsible for regulating compliance with the conditions for registration as a stakeholder scheme, including the charge limit. The annual compliance statement and reporting accountant's opinion will be available to Opra. Opra will be developing its approach to the regulation of stakeholder schemes in the light of experience, taking into account the overall number of registered stakeholder schemes.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many stakeholder schemes have been registered to date; and on what date each registration took place. [134550]

Mr. Rooker

As at 26 October, five stakeholder pension schemes have been registered. Four schemes were placed on the register on 18 October and a further scheme was registered on 20 October.

The registered schemes, in alphabetical order, are—The Barclays Stakeholder Pension Scheme, Britannic Stakeholder Pension Scheme, Natwest Life Stakeholder Pension Plan, Norwich Union Stakeholder Pension Scheme, and Royal and Sun Alliance Life and Pensions Limited Stakeholder Pension Scheme.

Details of the stakeholder pension schemes register are available on the Opra website at www.stakeholder.opra.gov.uk.

Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the stakeholder helpline will begin operation; and what targets the Government will use to determine the success of the helpline. [134547]

Mr. Rooker

The stakeholder pensions telephone helpline will begin operation on 2 November. The service will provide impartial information for people who want to know more about stakeholder pensions. Service standards for answering calls have been agreed with the Pensions Advisory Service who will operate the helpline. Evaluation of the quality of the service is expected to include mystery shopping and customer call backs.