Clause 42
Pensions Bill
9:30 am
Mike O'Brien (Minister of State (Pension Reform), Department for Work and Pensions; North Warwickshire, Labour)
I welcome you, Mrs. Anderson, and all members of the Committee back to our consideration of the Bill.
I will urge that clause 42 does not stand part of the Bill on the basis that we intend to replace it with new clause 14. Clause 42 allows Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to share information with the Pensions Regulator to enable the regulator to perform its compliance activities. That data sharing is crucial in making sure that employers comply with the new duties created in the Bill. It is vital that the Pensions Regulator is aware of all employers who should register and how to contact them, if required. HMRC is the best source of this information because of its pay-as-you-earn activities. Clause 42 also allows HMRC to share information about non-compliance that it has collected through tax and minimum wage activities. This will help the Pensions Regulator to identify which employers are more likely not to comply with their duties.
However, the Government recognise that clause 42 has room for even tighter safeguards. In particular, under the clause, it would be possible for the regulator, or its agents or contractors, to disclose onwardly information received by them from HMRC without being in breach of the law. We have therefore tabled new clause 14 to replace clause 42 and address its deficiencies.
New clause 14 would make it even clearer that while the Pensions Regulator can make full use of transferred HMRC data for its internal functions, the onward disclosure of that data by the regulator would be prohibited in all but a defined set of five specified circumstances: first, when HMRC’s authorisation for onward disclosure has been obtained; secondly, when the data are needed for any criminal proceedings; thirdly, when the regulator is involved in proceedings, including civil proceedings, under its existing and new powers; fourthly, when the disclosure enables or assists the Pensions Regulator to carry out its functions; and, fifthly, when the data have been anonymised.
New clause 14 would also streamline legislation providing for data sharing between the two bodies. HMRC already shares information with the Pensions Regulator to assist with the regulator’s existing functions. However, a single gateway for data flow from HMRC to the Pensions Regulator would be both more transparent and more elegant than adding multiple patches to the old gateway set out in the Pensions Act 2004. New clause 14 would replace the existing gateway between HMRC and the regulator with one that would allow the flow of data for the regulator’s old and new functions. There would thus not be the difficulty of having information flowing from HMRC to the regulator through one of two separate gateways—there will be just one.
Furthermore, the new combined gateway will improve the regulator’s ability to carry out its existing functions, making clearer the ways in which it can and cannot onwardly disclose data received from HMRC. I am sure we will have a little fun on data—no doubt we can look forward to that—but the new clause is the result of our looking very carefully at the wording of the old clause 42 and taking a view that we could tighten it up to ensure that things were clearer. I hope that the Committee will be able to support the removal of clause 42 and, in due course, the insertion of new clause 14.