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Deemed buy-back & update on the Pensions Bill
by Ian Neale 16/02/2007
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Amending regs (SI 2007/366) laid today replace tables of actuarial factors and investment indices first inserted two years ago into the 1998 deemed buy-back regs (SI 1998/1397) by SI 2005/891. The new tables come into effect from 6 April 2007.
The preamble states that there was no consultation on these regulations "because in the case of Great Britain the obligation to consult does not apply to regulations prescribing actuarial tables."
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) (Amount Required for Restoring State Scheme Rights and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 1998, to give their full title, deal with the calculation of the amount required for restoring State pension rights for members of occupational pension schemes that are wound up underfunded. The actuarial factors are an integral part of the calculations, and the investment indices relate to the yields of gilts and equities that are used in finding the market level indicator for the calculation.
Pensions Bill 2007
Meanwhile, the Government's Pensions Bill has completed the Committee stage in the House of Commons, following the Second Reading. After four and a half days in Committee the Bill (now numbered Bill 56 [PDF]) still comprises just 29 clauses and 7 schedules, as it did on introduction as Bill 12 [PDF] on 29 November 2006 (see Aries summary).
This might surprise readers who remember the way the Pensions Act 2004 swelled from 248 to 325 clauses during its passage through Parliament. Quite a few new clauses were proposed for the present Bill, but as none of them came from the Government, they all fell. However, at least 89 amendments were put forward and some have been folded into the Bill as it now stands. It is possible that one token Opposition amendment might be accepted at some later stage. The Bill is now on Report in the Commons; after its subsequent Third Reading, the Bill is expected to pass through five similar stages in the House of Lords.
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