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166089

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the basis on which projections of potential returns are used by the investment management industry in communications with pension holders.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL3147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Since 6 April 2003, certain money purchase pension arrangements have been required to provide members with Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPIs). Legislation requires that statutory illustrations are produced in accordance with guidance prepared by a prescribed body approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and by the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland.</p><p>The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the prescribed body and has been since 6 April 2007. The FRC fulfils its obligations through the publication of Actuarial Standard Technical Memorandum AS TM1: Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (AS TM1). It reviews AS TM1 regularly and the last completed review was carried out in 2013 following the introduction of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2734) which came into force on 6 April 2014. The AS TM1 specifies that the investment return should take into account the current and anticipated future investment strategy of the member’s funds over the period to retirement and be consistent from year to year, with the rationale documented and made available to members on request.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require a projection at point of sale for contract based pensions. The investment return must reflect the investment potential of the (expected) underlying assets, subject to an overall cap of 5%pa. Flanking projections must be provided using returns which vary by +/- 3%. The FCA has a public commitment to review the basis every 4 years and the next review is due in 2015. The FCA do not require further projections during the lifetime of the contract as pension scheme members will receive statutory statements prepared under DWP legislation. However, where a provider chooses to provide additional projections, they must follow the same basis as point of sale projections.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:26:30 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

166087

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions: Fees and Charges
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are measuring the impact of auto-enrolment on fees charged by the investment management industry; and what plans they have to track any changes.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL3145
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government’s Command Paper, ‘Better Workplace Pensions: Further measures for savers’, published in March, set out a range of measures including a cap on charges in default fund arrangements, a ban on inappropriate charges and proposals to introduce minimum governance standards and improve transparency across workplace defined contribution schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Following this, Government launched its consultation on draft regulations on governance and charges in occupational pension schemes in October 2014. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the majority of this legislation will come into force from April 2015, alongside Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules in relation to workplace personal pension schemes where appropriate. From April 2015, the Government intends to introduce a charge cap on the default funds of qualifying schemes, set at 0.75 per cent of funds under management and the first phase of enhanced transparency with trustees and Independent Governance Committees (IGCs) being required to report on costs and charges for the first time.</p><p> </p><p>In 2015 Government will consult on regulations under duties in the Pensions Act 2014 requiring information about transaction costs to be disclosed to members and others, and the publication of costs and charges information. The FCA also intends to consult on amending their own rules to introduce equivalent enhanced transparency provisions for workplace personal pension schemes during 2015. The Government has also set out its plans to review the level of the default fund charge cap, to see if it should be lowered, and also whether it should include some or all of the transaction costs that are ultimately borne by members within a cap. This review will take place in 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Taken together the combined effect of these measures on charges, governance and transparency and the Government’s commitment to a review should ensure that savers are being enrolled into workplace schemes that are well run and in members’ interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:19:52 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

167383

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Renewable Energy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the capacity of his Departmental buildings for the micro-generation of renewable energy; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Simon Kirby
	uin	216737
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>DWP has outsourced the provision of its estate until 31st March 2018 under a 20-year PFI contract with its private sector partner Telereal Trillium.</p><p> </p><p>Telereal Trillium’s technical experts have undertaken regular extensive reviews (both site based and desk-top studies) of the Department’s estate with a view to assessing the practical and financial viability of investing in micro-generation. These have included:</p><p> </p><p>• solar photo-voltaic and wind turbine generation of electricity; and</p><p> </p><p>• solar and bio-mass generation of heat.</p><p> </p><p>Following this review 18 sites were identified for a site visit and more detailed examination by Telereal Trillium’s technical experts and potential suppliers. Detailed business cases were then developed for the biomass sites offering the quickest payback and with the potential to meet the Department’s investment criteria. Unfortunately, although these sites offered a practical means of generating renewable energy they did not meet the Department’s investment criteria and so have not been pursued. Solar photo-voltaic and wind turbine generation projects had even longer payback periods.</p><p> </p><p>The Department also commissioned EDF to undertake independent surveys at five sites. These confirmed the results of the work undertaken by Telereal Trillium’s technical experts in that the break-even periods were too long to meet the Department’s investment criteria.</p><p> </p><p>Telereal Trillium are continuing to assess whether reductions in costs and/or improvements in technology will improve the financial viability of micro-generation.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 08/12/2014 13:04:50 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3929 label Biography information for Simon Kirby

166851

	registered interest
	date	01/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect they expect the Prime Minister’s proposals for curbs on welfare benefits for European Union migrants to have if implemented.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL3269
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>In his speech on 28 November, the Prime Minister announced a number of proposals to restrict EU migrants’ access to welfare benefits. He made clear that the intention of his proposals was to make the immigration system fairer and reduce the current high level of migration from within the EU into the UK.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:14:09 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

167384

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Funeral Payments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to review the process for applying for funeral payments.
	tabling member constituency	Bedford
	tabling member printed	Richard Fuller
	uin	216782
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>We are currently taking steps to improve the scheme and will continue to monitor its effectiveness.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 08/12/2014 12:54:59 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
	tabling member	3912 label Biography information for Richard Fuller

168438

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Unemployment: Young People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of levels of youth unemployment.
	tabling member constituency	Gloucester
	tabling member printed	Richard Graham
	uin	906488
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Youth unemployment has fallen nearly a quarter of a million over the last year – the second largest annual fall on record – down to 737,000.</p> answering member constituency Wirral West answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 08/12/2014 17:21:11 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
	tabling member	3990 label Biography information for Richard Graham