Consultation outcome

Draft Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Updated 19 October 2021

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Statutory Instruments

2022 No.***

Pensions

Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Made - - - - **
Laid before Parliament **
Coming into force - - 6th April 2022

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 113(1) and (3), 181(1) to (3) and 183(1) of the Pension Schemes Act 1993^{[footnote 1]}, makes the following Regulations.

In accordance with section 185(1) of the Pension Schemes Act 1993^{[footnote 2]}, the Secretary of State has consulted such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 and come into force on 6th April 2022.

Amendment of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013

2.—(1) Regulation 17 of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 (statement of benefits: money purchase benefits)^{[footnote 3]} is amended as follows.

(2) After paragraph (10) insert—

“(11) Paragraph (12) applies where—

(a) information must be given in accordance with paragraph (1) by the trustees or managers of a qualifying scheme to a member, and
(b) the qualifying scheme is a scheme under which all the benefits which may be payable are money purchase benefits.

(12) Where this paragraph applies—

(a) relevant information must be set out in the form of a statement; and
(b) the relevant information, and any other information which is included as part of that statement, must not exceed a maximum of one double-sided sheet of A4-sized paper (being one double-sided paper with the dimensions 210 by 297 millimetres) when printed.

(13) For the purposes of paragraph (12), relevant information is the information concerning the member’s money purchase benefits given under paragraphs (2) to (5).

(14) The trustees or managers may give the information in a format which does not comply with paragraph (12) in response to a request by a member for it to be provided in an alternative format, where the trustees or managers are reasonably satisfied that it is necessary to do so to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010^{[footnote 4]}.

(15) For the purposes of paragraphs (11) and (12)—

“member” does not include a member who is in receipt of benefits under the qualifying scheme, and
“qualifying scheme” has the meaning given in section 99 of the Pensions Act 2008^{[footnote 5]}”.

Transitional Provision

3. Where the trustees or managers of a qualifying scheme have, on or before 5th April 2022, already given a member information in accordance with paragraph (7) of regulation 17 as that regulation has effect on 5th April 2022, the trustees or managers are not required to give the member that information in accordance with that regulation as it has effect on 6th April 2022 as the result of the amendments made by these Regulations.

Review of regulation 17(11) to (15) (Statements of benefits: money purchase benefits) of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013

4.—(1) The Secretary of State must, from time to time—

(a) carry out a review the effectiveness of the provisions of regulation 17(11) to (15)^{[footnote 6]} of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013, as inserted by these Regulations, and
(b) publish the report setting out the conclusions of this review

(2) The report must in particular—

(a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory system established by the regulation referred to in paragraph (1)(a), (b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,
(c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and
(d) if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved with a system that imposes less regulation.

(3) The first report under this regulation must be published before 6 April 2025.

(4) Reports under this regulation are afterwards to be carried out at intervals not exceeding three years.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Name

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2734) (“the Disclosure Regulations 2013”).

Regulation 2 amends regulation 17, which concerns the provision of annual pension benefit statements, to require certain pension schemes to provide members (except pensioner members), who are entitled to money purchase benefits, with a statement in relation to those benefits that must not exceed one double-sided sheet of A4 paper when printed. The regulations make provision for an exception where the member requests the information in an alternative format.

Regulation 3 contains a transitional measure which provides that the changes made to regulation 17 of the Disclosure Regulations by regulation 2 of these Regulations do not apply to information concerning a member’s money purchase benefits given before 6th April 2022.

Regulation 4 requires the Secretary of State to review the effectiveness of the amendments made by regulation 2 of these Regulations and publish a report before 6 April 2025 and within every three years after that. A full regulatory impact statement of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from legislation.gov.uk. A hard copy of the impact assessment may be obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London SW1H 9NA.

1. 1993 c. 48. Section 113(1) was amended by section 52(1) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000, and is amended by section 38(1) and (2) of the Pension Schemes Act 2015 (c. 8) (“the 2015 Act”); section 113(5) to (7) was inserted by section 44(1) of the Pensions Act 2014 (c. 19) (“the 2014 Act”) and section 113(5) and is amended by section 38(6) of the 2015 Act from a date to be appointed. Section 181(1) is cited for the meaning given to “prescribe” and “regulations”; section 183 was amended by Parts 3 and 4 of Schedule 7 to the Pensions Act 1995 (c. 26) (“the 1995 Act”). ↩

2. Section 185(1) was amended by sections 122 and 151 of, and paragraph 46 of Schedule 3 to, the 1995 Act and by paragraph 80(a) of Schedule 5 to that Act. ↩

3. S.I. 2017/2734. ↩

4. 2010 (c. 15). ↩

5. 2008 (c. 30). ↩

6. Regulation 17(11) to (15) is inserted by regulation 2 of these Regulations. ↩