Clause 37 - The register: duties of trustees or managers
Pensions Bill
2:45 pm
Mr George Osborne (Tatton, Conservative)
Of course. Within 28 days could mean one day, just as ''as soon as reasonably practicable'' could be less than 28 days. However, the Bill needs to be more specific. I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman, who is so assiduous in his defence of the interests of his constituents in Allied Steel and Wire and so forth, would want more protection for them. I would have thought that he would want a scheme to have to notify the regulator within a month—28 days—rather than a broad definition of ''as soon as reasonably practicable''. Someone could say to the regulator, ''I was too busy winding up my bank accounts and finding a house in the Costa del Sol to pass on this important information to you, Mr. Regulator.'' I have inserted ''28 days'', but I am happy to listen to the Government if they want to change it to another figure.
It is interesting that specific periods are set out in some clauses. Clause 37(3) refers to a period of three months. Later in the legislation, periods such as three years are referred to, and it is stated that the requirement to make a scheme return must be fulfilled within 28 days. The Government have specified time frames in other parts of the Bill, but they have not done so in this measure on providing information. We are trying to create a risk-based approach, and I should have thought that one of the red flags to a regulator would be changes in a scheme,
and that the regulator would want to be informed about that as quickly as possible.