Clause 19 - Powers to wind up occupational pension schemes
Pensions Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West, Labour)
May I, too, seek clarification about clause 19? I make particular reference to the process of winding up when initiated by the pensions regulator and wish to reinforce the points made by the hon. Member for Northavon. In the case of Allied Steel and Wire and many other instances, the workers were horrified to find that, when the pension scheme was in wind-up, if they wrote to the independent trustee charged with winding up the pension scheme with queries about their pension, the pension fund was charged for replying to their inquiries. That abuse is inherent in the current system. Will the clause remove it? It should effectively nationalise the winding-up service of occupational pensions. There will then not be a scam between a small number of experts who control such matters and make huge sums out of winding-up schemes. In smaller schemes, they often eat up a large proportion of the assets in the pension fund, which is already insufficient to meet its liabilities. Any reassurances that the Minister can give will be welcomed by workers who have suffered and consider that they have been ripped off.