Mr. BeilinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made over the past two years on her Department's review of the Business Transfer Regulations; what delays have been experienced; and if she will make a statement. [113500]
§ Alan JohnsonIn September 2001, the Department issued a formal public consultation document, accompanied by a more detailed background document, setting out policy proposals for the reform of the TUPE Regulations. Responses to that consultation were considered during 2002, and follow-up discussions took place informally with key stakeholders and TUPE interest groups. In December 2002, a further round of530W consultation was launched, in the DWP/Treasury Green Paper "Pensions and the Workplace", on the specific issue of the protection of occupational pension rights on transfer. The outcome of that further consultation is currently under consideration. In the meantime, we announced in February 2003 that we intend to proceed with the other, non-occupational pensions aspects of our proposed reforms. We envisage carrying out a final round of consultation, on draft Regulations (excluding occupational pensions aspects) later this year with the intention of bringing these into force in April 2004.