The DWP announced today a consultation on more measures to improve the delivery of benefits under the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). Consultation on the first set of draft regulations to extend the FAS to 90% of accrued pension from normal scheme retirement age (see Aries article) closed on 20 March 2008. The responses to that consultation are now being considered: the DWP expects to begin making increased payments (ie up to 90% of accrued benefits, capped at £26,000) from the end of May (2008).

The latest draft regulations will enable people who have to stop working early because of poor health to get payments from the FAS up to five years before their scheme's normal retirement age.

Additionally, proposals in these regulations will speed up payments by including a requirement for trustees and other relevant people to provide information three months before a member's normal scheme retirement age, or within 14 days of a request for that information where the member is unable to work due to ill-health.

These regulations will also remove the need for the FAS operational unit to wait until trustees apply for initial payments.

Further measures should bring up to 11,000 people in 162 schemes into the FAS. These are schemes where the employer is still solvent but the scheme has wound-up under funded.

These measures, along with a third set of regulations to follow for consultation later this year, will ensure the settlement announced in December 2007 (see Aries article) provides assistance broadly comparable with PPF compensation. Some amendments to the Pensions Bill 2007 will be required.

The consultation closes on 9 May 2008. Although the period is shorter than usual, the condoc runs to 56 pages of which the regs themselves occupy 15 pages (in small print at that), so interested parties will need to set aside a considerable amount of time to properly understand it.