§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what safeguards are in place for those who have company pensions against loss of their pension through insolvency; [160039]
(2) what support is available to those who have lost their pensions when the company which employed them went bankrupt. [160040]
§ Malcolm WicksIn the event of employer insolvency, assistance is available to pension scheme members under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Pension Schemes Act 1993. Under these Acts, insolvency payments are made from the National Insurance Fund (NIF) to qualifying former employees. Claims for unpaid employees' National Insurance contributions are limited to the actual amount deducted from wages during the twelve months prior to the date of insolvency. Unpaid employers' National Insurance contributions for the twelve-month period prior to the insolvency date are also payable, but are subject to monetary limits depending on the type of pension scheme.
Assistance is also available under 'deemed buyback' provisions, introduced as part of the Pensions Act 1995. Under these provisions members of contracted-out occupational pension schemes can, in certain circumstances, have some, or all of their state scheme rights restored for the period that they were contracted-out.
Other statutory measures are in place to help safeguard the pensions that people have built up. The employer debt provisions ensure that any shortfall is treated as a debt due from the employer to the trustees of the scheme. Changes to the statutory priority order on wind-up, announced on 24 February, will help ensure a fairer distribution of the pension scheme assets between non-pensioner and pensioner scheme members.
1800WWe are also taking additional steps to protect members of defined benefit schemes. We are introducing the Pension Protection Fund, which will protect scheme members by paying compensation if their employer becomes insolvent and the pension scheme is underfunded. The Pension Protection Fund will significantly improve both protection for pension scheme members and confidence in pensions more generally. For the first time ever, individuals with defined-benefit with rights pension schemes can be assured that they will receive a meaningful level of compensation if their employer becomes insolvent and there are insufficient assets in the pension scheme to pay out the pensions promised.
We are also introducing a new Pensions Regulator with the flexibility and powers to take a targeted and proportionate approach to protecting the funds held in pension schemes.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in(a) Huddersfield and (b) the UK lost their pensions as a result of insolvency in each year since 1997. [160041]
§ Malcolm WicksThis information is not available. The currently available source of information on pension schemes is the Pension Schemes Registry, which is administered by the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra). Their database does not allow us to identify the location of scheme members affected nor the solvency status of the sponsoring employer.