Clause 43 - Information relevant to the Board
Pensions Bill
3:00 pm
Professor Steve Webb (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Work & Pensions; Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
The hon. Gentleman's amendment relates to the information that the regulator will seek and pass on to the pension protection fund. Will the Minister clarify one important thing for me? The more I think about the Bill, the more it seems that the regulator and the pension protection fund are the same thing. That is not quite the way that the Department sees it, but they closely overlap. Both monitor what is going on in schemes, both worry about funding levels, and both obtain information.
I have not yet tabled the merger amendment—the mega-amendment—and I see the Minister's officials fainting at the suggestion. Will he assure us that we will not have a situation in which the regulator asks for information from schemes for its own sake and for information from schemes on behalf of the pension protection fund while, at the same time, the pension protection fund asks schemes for information for its own purposes? Will there be a mechanism whereby the pension protection fund does everything through the regulator? It is not apparent now, but perhaps we will reach that provision later in our proceedings. Will the Minister clarify that? Clearly much common information is needed, which is what the clause is
about, but in terms of burdens on schemes and duplication, will he assure us that a mechanism will be in place to ensure that there is no duplication and that there is as much pooling of information as possible to enable both organisations to fulfil their functions effectively?