Occupational pension schemes: abolition of defined benefit contracting-out
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes that were Contracted-out) (No.2) Regulations
In July 2015 the department laid the Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes that were Contracted-out) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 1452) – “the 2015 Regulations”. After publication, we discovered a procedural error in relation to regulation 28 and a revocation in regulation 32.
These provisions are required to be debated in Parliament before they can be made (the “affirmative procedure”) and that process was not followed. We have, therefore, revoked the 2015 Regulations and replaced them with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes that were Contracted-out) (No.2) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/1677) without the above-mentioned provisions.
On 16 September 2015 we revised and replaced the government response in order to reflect the changes and explain the error. The content of the response is otherwise substantially the same. The original July 2015 response is still available.
We will include regulation 28 and the appropriate revocation provision within regulation 32 in a future set of regulations which will be subject to the affirmative procedure. Our intention is that this future S.I. will be debated and made before the end of 2015.
Occupational Pension Schemes (Power to amend Schemes to Reflect Abolition of Contracting-out) Regulations
On 4 March 2015 we published the government’s response to the comments received on the Occupational Pension Schemes (Power to amend Schemes to Reflect Abolition of Contracting-out) Regulations 2014.
The regulations were published on 4 March 2014.
We received 34 responses to the consultation and would like to thank all those who responded.
Original consultation
Consultation description
This consultation asks for views on proposed changes resulting from the abolition of defined benefit contracting-out of the additional State Pension for people in occupational pension schemes.
Subject to Royal Assent to the Pensions Bill 2013-14, defined benefit contracting out of the additional State Pension will end when the current 2-tiered system of basic and additional State Pension is replaced by a single-tier pension in April 2016.
We are seeking views on:
- the draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Power to amend Schemes to Reflect Abolition of Contracting-out) Regulations 2014 (Annex A) – that set out how employers can amend scheme rules, without trustee approval, to reduce costs following the increase in employer National Insurance when contracting-out ends
- the draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes that were Contracted-out) Regulations 2014 (Annex B) – that will replace the Occupational Pension Schemes (Contracting-out) Regulations 1996
We welcome comments on the draft regulations from pension scheme trustees, their advisers, employers who sponsor contracted-out occupational pension schemes, pension scheme professionals, pension scheme members, member representative organisations and anyone else with an interest.
Documents
Updates to this page
Last updated 16 September 2015 + show all updates
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Revised and replaced the government response for the Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes that were Contracted-out) Regulations. The revised response includes an explanation of the reasons for the change.
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Published the government's response to the draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Schemes that were Contracted-out) Regulations.
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Published the government response to comments received on the Occupational Pension Schemes (Power to Amend Schemes to Reflect Abolition of Contracting-out) Regulations 2015.
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First published.