Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 134ZBA: 134ZBA: Before Clause 107, insert the following new Clause— ““Publishing of reports by Pensions Regulator In section 89 of the Pensions Act 2004 (c. 35) (publishing reports etc.) after subsection (3) insert— ““(4) The Regulator shall publish its determinations, including Clearance Statements issued under section 42 or 46 together with the reasons for that determination within 28 days of the determination being made. (5) The Regulator may, at the request of the directly affected parties, anonomise a determination published under section (4) above. (6) The Regulator shall publish its policy on the exercise of its determinations in order that the exercise of them is consistent and transparent.”””” The noble Lord said: I shall also speak to Amendment No. 134ZBB. Amendment No. 134ZBA would encourage the regulator to be more open about his determinations than he has been hitherto. Although he published the clearances given by the determinations panel, he has not published anything about those given by staff. Given the context of the broader discretion that he is likely to have as a result of the forthcoming regulations, it is important that he should be encouraged to build up in public a body of precedent which will guide people who might be subject to his ire in the future as to what his attitude is likely to be. It could only assist if he was more helpful than at present. The second amendment slightly redresses the balance in situations where the Pensions Regulator is actively pursuing a case against an individual or business. At the moment there is no way for the accused to know the full breadth of information in the case against them and in particular whether mitigating material exists that the Pensions Regulator has but has not disclosed. This is not a clear and proper basis for natural justice; both sides ought to know. There ought to be full disclosure in principle. This amendment is to explore a way of achieving that, so that parties being prosecuted by the Pensions Regulator are in the same position as they would be were they up against a different kind of tribunal. I beg to move.