Clause 62 - Disclosure of information by the Inland Revenue
Pensions Bill
9:45 am
Mr Chris Pond (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Gravesham, Labour)
We shall continue our pillow talk on these matters. The hon. Gentleman is correct to say that there is a two-way street. As he will be aware, clause 62 largely replicates section 109 of the Pensions Act 1995 and relates to the disclosure of information by the Inland Revenue to the regulator. It provides that the Inland Revenue will not be bound by the restrictions imposed by section 182 of the Finance Act 1989, so long as the information is used by the
regulator to discharge its functions. The regulator must treat information disclosed to it by the Inland Revenue as restricted information. I hope that answers the hon. Gentleman's question in part. The regulator must not disclose that information unless the commissioners of the Inland Revenue or Customs and Excise have given permission or—this is only a slight difference—for the purposes of any criminal proceedings.
Perhaps it would help the Committee if I gave an example of the type of criminal proceedings that we have in mind. Some offences that relate to pension schemes are not offences under the pensions legislation—theft, for example. We want to ensure that information disclosed by the Inland Revenue to the regulator can be used in criminal proceedings for such offences. I know that the hon. Gentleman will be keen to know what type of tax information may be relevant to the regulator's functions, and I am eager to enlighten him. Tax information could, for example, be details of how many employees an employer has. The hon. Member for Northavon, who has expressed considerable interest in those matters in our earlier proceedings, will know that employee numbers are relevant to enable the regulator to check whether an employer is required to designate a stakeholder scheme.
On the specific point about the gateway to the regulator from the Inland Revenue, I am advised that that is specified in the list in schedule 3—page 177, line 10. Any information that the regulator receives from the Inland Revenue under clause 62 must be treated as restricted information. I hope that that will give sufficient reassurance to the hon. Member for Eastbourne, despite his anxiety about any involvement of the Inland Revenue in the receipt of information.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 62, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.