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1612586

registered interest
date	19/04/2023
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 His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) men, and (2) women, who earn less than £12,570 in any one job, who are members of auto-enrolment workplace pension schemes which operate on a Net Pay basis.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL7260
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2023 answer text <p>DWP do not hold this data.</p><p> </p><p>A policy paper has been published showing the number of people who save into an occupational pension under net pay arrangements whose taxable pay is below the personal allowance is estimated to be 1.2 million in 2026-27. In 2023/24, the Personal Allowance is £12,570.</p><p> </p><p>Women are estimated to make up 75% of those earning below the personal allowance and contributing to a pension scheme that uses net pay arrangements. The 1.2 million can therefore be broken down into around 0.3 million men and 0.9 million women.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ul><li>These figures were produced for accrual in 2026-27 and the Personal Allowance at the time was not set to £12,570 in that tax year.</li><li>These figures look at total pay across jobs and less contributions to Net Pay Arrangements, so it is possible that someone with total earnings above the Personal Allowance is included because removing their Net Pay Arrangement contributions takes them below the Personal Allowance or someone earns less than the Personal Allowance in a single job but their pay across jobs takes them above the Personal Allowance.</li><li>These figures were produced for the Autumn Budget 2021 fiscal event using the 2018-19 SPI projected using Autumn Budget 2021 OBR determinants.</li><li>Further detail can be found at the source which is linked below.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Source: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-earners-anomaly-pensions-relief-relating-to-net-pay-arrangements/pensions-relief-relating-to-net-pay-arrangements" target="_blank">Pensions relief relating to net pay arrangements - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/05/2023 11:38:17 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1314142

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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 where responsibility lies for the monitoring of pension scheme charges in automatic enrolment workplace schemes.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>As part of the introduction of automatic enrolment, requirements were put in place, under the Pensions Act 2008, to ensure that workplace pension schemes selected by an employer to meet their obligations satisfy certain quality and governance standards. The Pensions Regulator enforces employer compliance with the Automatic Enrolment duties.</p><p>The Government regularly undertakes public consultations on private pensions policy and encourages all interested parties, including scheme members to submit their views. <br></p><p>In 2020, the department undertook a review of the charge cap and accompanying Pensions Charges Survey. The review concluded that the current level of the charge cap remained appropriate at 0.75 per cent of funds under management within the default arrangement, or an equivalent combination charge.</p><p>On 24th May, the department launched a public consultation looking at Permitted Charges within DC Pensions. The consultation seeks views on a proposal to move to a universal charging structure within the charge cap to improve member comprehension of charges, and in turn better enable members to compare pension products if they wish. This consultation also confirms our intention to set a de Minimis on the charging of flats fees within the cap. This will help limit the erosion of small pots of £100 or less, where a flat fee is charged.</p><p /><p /> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL125 HL126 question first answered 24/05/2021 10:52:58 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1314143

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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 steps members of workplace pension schemes can take if they consider their employer scheme charges are excessively high.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL125
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>As part of the introduction of automatic enrolment, requirements were put in place, under the Pensions Act 2008, to ensure that workplace pension schemes selected by an employer to meet their obligations satisfy certain quality and governance standards. The Pensions Regulator enforces employer compliance with the Automatic Enrolment duties.</p><p>The Government regularly undertakes public consultations on private pensions policy and encourages all interested parties, including scheme members to submit their views. <br></p><p>In 2020, the department undertook a review of the charge cap and accompanying Pensions Charges Survey. The review concluded that the current level of the charge cap remained appropriate at 0.75 per cent of funds under management within the default arrangement, or an equivalent combination charge.</p><p>On 24th May, the department launched a public consultation looking at Permitted Charges within DC Pensions. The consultation seeks views on a proposal to move to a universal charging structure within the charge cap to improve member comprehension of charges, and in turn better enable members to compare pension products if they wish. This consultation also confirms our intention to set a de Minimis on the charging of flats fees within the cap. This will help limit the erosion of small pots of £100 or less, where a flat fee is charged.</p><p /><p /> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL124 HL126 question first answered 24/05/2021 10:52:58 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1314144

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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 protect members of workplace pension schemes whose employers have not selected a suitable scheme.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL126
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>As part of the introduction of automatic enrolment, requirements were put in place, under the Pensions Act 2008, to ensure that workplace pension schemes selected by an employer to meet their obligations satisfy certain quality and governance standards. The Pensions Regulator enforces employer compliance with the Automatic Enrolment duties.</p><p>The Government regularly undertakes public consultations on private pensions policy and encourages all interested parties, including scheme members to submit their views. <br></p><p>In 2020, the department undertook a review of the charge cap and accompanying Pensions Charges Survey. The review concluded that the current level of the charge cap remained appropriate at 0.75 per cent of funds under management within the default arrangement, or an equivalent combination charge.</p><p>On 24th May, the department launched a public consultation looking at Permitted Charges within DC Pensions. The consultation seeks views on a proposal to move to a universal charging structure within the charge cap to improve member comprehension of charges, and in turn better enable members to compare pension products if they wish. This consultation also confirms our intention to set a de Minimis on the charging of flats fees within the cap. This will help limit the erosion of small pots of £100 or less, where a flat fee is charged.</p><p /><p /> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott grouped question UIN HL124 HL125 question first answered 24/05/2021 10:52:58 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1177103

registered interest
date	07/02/2020
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 duties the trustees of non-associated multi-employer pension schemes have to employers contributing to the scheme; and whether all such employers have a right to be consulted when trustees grant apportionment arrangements to departing employers.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL1428
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2020 answer text <p>The employer debt legislation (section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995 and the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005) sets out the requirements on departing employers where any shortfall between liabilities and assets in a Defined Benefit pension scheme is treated as due.</p><p> </p><p>Trustees of all occupational pension schemes including non-associated multi-employer pension schemes have a duty to employers contributing to the scheme to ensure that the scheme is correctly administered in accordance with its rules and that the promised benefits are paid. Where a restructuring event takes place, trustees are required to consult the exiting employer and receiving employer about the likelihood of the receiving employer being able to meet all the exiting employer’s liabilities in relation to the scheme. The trustees must also notify the exiting and receiving employer (in writing) of their decision as to whether they consider the receiving employer capable of meeting all the exiting employer’s liabilities to the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst there is no general requirement for trustees to consult employers when granting apportionment arrangements to departing employers, the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005 require the consent of employers within the scheme when trustees grant Regulated Apportionment Arrangements, Scheme Apportionment Arrangements and Flexible Apportionment Arrangements to departing employers.</p><p> </p><p>The Government’s Green and subsequent White Paper on Defined Benefit pension schemes looked very closely at this issue and considered carefully what could be done to relieve the pressure some employers face from their obligation to pay an employer debt.</p><p> </p><p>The White Paper concluded that the existing arrangements in legislation, along with the deferred debt arrangement introduced in April 2018, provide enough flexibility for employers to manage their employer debts and the current “full-buyout” calculation method is the most secure and effective way of protecting members and remaining employers in a multi-employer scheme.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 19/02/2020 13:02:46 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1177105

registered interest
date	07/02/2020
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 steps they have taken to ensure that the pensions industry routinely checks for auto-enrolment contribution data errors; and whether they receive reports from (1) pension providers, (2) employers, and (3) payroll operators, which verify the accuracy of such contributions.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL1430
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>Successive governments have put in place a robust, proportionate, compliance framework for automatic enrolment, which is administered by The Pensions Regulator, and includes detailed regulatory guidance about how to comply with the law.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, employers and their pension scheme trustees, managers and providers must keep certain records including details of the pension contributions payable in each relevant pay reference period by an employer to the pension scheme, and the amounts payable. This includes the contributions due on the employer’s behalf and deductions made from an individual’s earnings towards automatic enrolment.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of trust based defined contribution pension schemes and managers of contract based defined contribution pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions, provide information to help members check their contributions and report material payment failures to The Pensions Regulator.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator receives payment failure reports from pension providers, but these do not necessarily represent data errors. While The Pensions Regulator does not hold statistics on contribution data errors, the regulatory regime is designed so that errors can be identified and material failures can be reported. The Pensions Regulator can then require restitution and, where necessary, make use of its enforcement powers.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator publishes regular assessments of its automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement activities as well as an annual commentary and analysis report, both of which are available on its website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 13/02/2020 14:54:56 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1167215

registered interest
date	29/10/2019
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 ensure that the Pensions Regulator makes pension schemes regularly reconcile and report on the accuracy of auto-enrolment pensions data.
tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
uin	HL483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Automatic Enrolment into workplace pensions is working. It has transformed pension saving for millions of today’s workers. It has reversed the decline in workplace pension saving seen in the decade prior to its introduction. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012, workplace participation has increased among eligible employees from a low of 55 per cent in 2012 to 87 per cent in 2018. The Government has put in place a robust, proportionate compliance framework. This is administered by The Pensions Regulator, and includes detailed regulatory guidance about how to comply with the law. An employer is required to select a qualifying pension scheme; enrol qualifying staff into that scheme, and deduct any contributions payable under Automatic Enrolment.</p><p> </p><p>The Pensions Regulator’s priorities are contained in their corporate plan 2019-22 and include; providing clarity, enforcing the high standards of trusteeship, governance and administration they expect.</p><p> </p><p>Qualifying pension schemes for Automatic Enrolment are subject to the regulatory framework overseen by The Pensions Regulator in respect of payment and accuracy of contributions. The Regulator has published codes of practice on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions; provide information to help members check their contributions; and report material payment failures to the Regulator.</p><p> </p><p>The regulatory regime is designed so that errors can be identified and material failures can be reported, the Regulator can then require restitution; and, where necessary, make use of its enforcement powers. The Government keeps all aspects of automatic enrolment under regular review but has no plans to make changes to the compliance framework at this time.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 04/11/2019 14:12:19 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann