Pensions Bill

I seek to allay the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale. Clause 110 addresses an issue which has arisen about the circumstances in which the Pensions Regulator can use its powers to regulate the scheme funding requirements for private sector defined benefit schemes. Section 231 of the Pensions Act 2004 provides the regulator with a wide range of powers relating to the scheme funding requirements. They enable the regulator to take action, for example, where there has been a breach of the legislation, or where the trustees and the sponsoring employer cannot reach agreement on a key aspect of their scheme’s funding arrangements. Those powers include a power to specify the actuarial assumptions to be used in a valuation of a pension scheme’s assets and liabilities. One of the key responsibilities of a pension scheme’s trustees is to decide what actuarial assumptions are to be used in an actuarial valuation of their scheme. Legislation specifically requires the trustees to choose those assumptions prudently. The regulator has recently faced resistance in cases where it has queried the extent to which the trustees have complied with the requirement to choose actuarial valuations prudently, and its power to act in those circumstances has been challenged. The actuarial assumptions used in a valuation are absolutely critical in establishing a scheme’s correct funding position and in determining an appropriate level of employer and, if appropriate, employee contributions to the scheme. In short, the purpose of the clause is to ensure that the regulator can use its existing scheme funding powers where the assumptions chosen by the trustees do not appear to be prudent. It is necessary to ensure that the regulator can take appropriate action to prevent increased risks to the security of scheme members’ benefits. The noble Lord referred to the regulator consulting on longevity assumptions. That is an important issue, and the regulator’s consultation has provided the opportunity for a serious discussion of the issues. The regulator has undertaken a full consultation and is taking seriously the views raised. It would not be appropriate to comment on the outcome, because that would prejudge the consultation, but it is clearly in all our interests that longevity issues are tackled effectively and that we do not store up ever bigger problems for another day. Equally, we are clearly committed to ensuring that actions across the system are appropriate and proportionate. I understand that the regulator expects to publish its response shortly. The noble Lord also raised issues around whether the regulator would use this power to impose long cohort assumptions. There are no standard assumptions to impose. The regulator will ensure that a scheme-specific approach is taken, as should all trustees as part of ensuring prudent technical provisions. It will not impose a long cohort assumption. The noble Lord referred to the Association of Pension Lawyers, and he will be aware that it has written to DWP officials about the effect of this clause. The association was concerned that the clause gives the regulator new, wide powers and that it introduces subjective considerations by the regulator for the first time. The APL is also concerned that the clause is being introduced without sufficient consultation. As I said earlier, the power for the regulator to direct the actuarial assumptions to be used in calculating a pension scheme valuation already exists. The clause simply ensures that the existing power can actually be used where the actuarial assumptions do not appear to have been chosen prudently by the trustees. We do not agree with the suggestion that the clause introduces subjective consideration by the regulator for the first time. The regulator’s scheme funding powers can be used only where it appears to the regulator that there has been a breach of the legislation. The regulator must therefore already decide in each case whether it considers that such a breach has occurred. Similar powers also already exist in respect of scheme funding recovery plans. The regulator can intervene if it considers that the trustees have not taken account of matters such as their scheme’s asset and liability structure, its risk profile, its liquidity requirements and the age profile of its members. The noble Lord also referred to the description of the clause in the Explanatory Notes. He may be aware that we acknowledge that the description of the clause in the notes that accompanied the Bill on its introduction could have been better expressed. There is an intention to update those notes in subsequent versions of the Bill. I hope that the noble Lord will be reassured by what I have said.