S.286 of the Pensions Act 2004 requires the Secretary of State to make provision, by regulations, for a scheme for making payments to, or in respect of, "qualifying members" of "qualifying pension schemes". Liberal use is made in s.286 of the phrase "as may be prescribed". No regulations issued to date have prescribed anything about this Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).

All the Government would say at the time the Bill was before Parliament was that a total of £400 million would be provided over the course of 20 years to fund the scheme. Subsequently, on 2 December 2004 the Minister for Pensions (Malcolm Wicks) announced in a Written Ministerial Statement that schemes that started winding up between 1 January 1997 and 5 April 2005 will be potentially eligible for help from the FAS. The Minister also stated that the FAS will include only those who will receive at least £10 a week, or equivalent, from the scheme.

In response to a sustained campaign for more information, and widespread disbelief that the promised funding level could be anywhere near sufficient, the Government has made several further announcements in recent weeks. Those within three years of retirement will be first in the queue; they will get 80% of their benefits, up to a limit of £12,000 pa. On present indications, however, it seems very unlikely that anyone who was more than three years away from retirement on 10 May 2004 will benefit at all from the FAS.

The DWP has an FAS webpage from which further background information and the various Government statements are available.