Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 934

      The Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2001


      © Crown Copyright 2001

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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS


2001 No. 934

PENSIONS

The Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2001

  Made 13th March 2001 
  Laid before Parliament 15th March 2001 
  Coming into force 5th April 2001 

The Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of powers conferred by sections 3(2), 10(3), 41(1) and (6), 124(1) and 174(2) and (3) of the Pensions Act 1995[1], and sections 1(1)(b), (3), (5) and (7), 3(1), (3)(b), (5) and (9), 8(1)[2], and 83(4)(a) and (b) and (6)(a) and (b) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999[3], and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, having consulted such persons as he considered appropriate[4], hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation
     1.  - (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2001 and shall come into force on 5th April 2001.

    (2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a numbered regulation or numbered schedule, is to the regulation or schedule bearing that number in the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000[
5].

Amendment of regulation 1
     2.  - (1) Regulation 1 (citation, commencement and interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (2) for "and Part IV shall come into force on 8th October 2001." substitute - 

      " and - 

      (a) regulation 23 shall come into force on 6th April 2001; and

      (b) Part IV (except regulation 23) shall come into force on 8th October 2001.".

    (3) In paragraph (3) - 

    (a) after the definition of "beneficiary" insert - 

      " "scheme instruments" means instruments establishing a stakeholder pension scheme;".

    (4) After paragraph (7) insert - 

        " (8) In paragraph (3), references in the definition of "dilution levy" to - 

      (a) The Financial Services (Regulated Schemes) Regulations 1991 are references to those Regulations; and

      (b) The Financial Services (Open-Ended Investment Companies) Regulations 1997 are references to those Regulations,

    as in force on the date on which the Stakeholder Pension Schemes (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2001 were made.".

Amendment of regulation 3
     3.  - (1) Regulation 3 (requirements applying to all stakeholder pension schemes as regards instruments establishing such schemes)[8] shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1) for "the instruments establishing a stakeholder pension scheme (the "scheme instruments")" substitute "the scheme instruments".

    (3) In paragraph (5A) for "Subject to paragraphs (10) and (11) and to regulation 17(1)," substitute - 

      " Subject to paragraph (10) and to regulation 17(1) and (5),".

    (4) After paragraph (5A) insert - 

        " (5B) The scheme instruments must, except to the extent necessary to ensure that the scheme has tax-exemption or tax-approval, permit as means of payment of contributions to the scheme payment from a bank account or building society account by - 

      (a) cheque;

      (b) direct debit;

      (c) standing order;

      (d) direct credit (other than standing order),

    and (for the avoidance of doubt) for the purposes of this paragraph, those means of payment do not include payment by cash, credit card or debit card (or by any combination thereof).".

    (5) Omit paragraph (11).

Amendment of regulation 4
     4.  - (1) Regulation 4 (additional requirements as regards instruments establishing a stakeholder pension scheme established under a trust)[9] shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (3) for "The instruments establishing a stakeholder pension" substitute "The scheme instruments of a".

    (3) In paragraph (4)(a) for "or by this regulation" substitute ", by this regulation or by regulation 6".

Amendment of regulation 8
     5. In regulation 8(6) (requirement applying to all stakeholder pension schemes as regards investments) for the definition of "contract of insurance" substitute - 

Amendment of regulation 10
     6.  - (1) Regulation 10 (requirement for manager of schemes not established under a trust to have regard to certain matters, and to take advice, relating to investment) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (4) after "proper advice as to whether the investment" insert "or investment option".

    (3) After paragraph (4) insert - 

    (4) In paragraph (5) for "For the purposes of paragraph (4)" substitute "For the purposes of this regulation".

    (5) In paragraph (6) - 

    (6) In paragraph (7) - 

    (7) For paragraph (8) substitute - 

Amendment of regulation 11
    
7.  - (1) Regulation 11 (requirement for manager of schemes not established under trust to appoint a reporting accountant) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1) for "Subject to paragraph (2), for" substitute "For".

    (3) Omit paragraph (2).

    (4) For paragraph (3) substitute - 

    (5) For paragraph (4) substitute - 

    (6) In paragraphs (6) to (8), for "manager" in each place where it occurs substitute "trustees or manager".

    (7) In paragraph (7) - 

    (a) after "in the event of his resignation" insert "(including where he resigns solely or partly because he is required to do so by paragraph (7A))"; and

    (b) for sub-paragraph (b) substitute - 

      " (b) a declaration that he knows of no such circumstances,

    but for the purposes of this paragraph, such circumstances shall not include the mere fact of his being, or having become, ineligible as mentioned in paragraph (7A).".

    (8) After paragraph (7) insert - 

        " (7A) Where the reporting accountant is or becomes ineligible, by virtue of paragraph (11) or of not satisfying the conditions in paragraph (4), for his appointment as such - 

      (a) he shall not act as the reporting accountant (except if required to do so under paragraph (6), and except as required by his agreement under paragraph (7) and as required by sub-paragraphs (c) and (d));

      (b) anything done for the purposes of these Regulations by him acting as such while ineligible in contravention of sub-paragraph (a) shall by the trustees or manager be taken for those purposes not to have been done;

      (c) he shall resign (with immediate effect) by notice in writing immediately he is or becomes aware, or, as the case may be, should reasonably be or become aware, that he is or has become so ineligible;

      (d) he shall state in that notice - 

        (i) that he is resigning by reason of ineligibility; and

        (ii) the ground on which he is or has become so ineligible;

      (e) notwithstanding sub-paragraph (c), if he is still in place when the trustees or manager are or become aware, or should reasonably be or become aware, that he is or has become so ineligible, the trustees or manager shall remove him immediately.".

    (9) In paragraph (8) - 

    (a) for "Where" substitute "Except in cases falling within paragraph (9), where"; and

    (b) for "shall appoint" to the end substitute - 

      " shall appoint, in accordance with this regulation, another reporting accountant - 

      (a) within 3 months of the date of that removal, resignation or death; or

      (b) if earlier, as soon as is required in order not to prevent compliance with regulation 12(5) and (6).".

    (10) After paragraph (8) insert - 

        " (9) Where under paragraph (7A) the reporting accountant resigns with immediate effect or is removed, the trustees or manager shall appoint, in accordance with this regulation, another reporting accountant - 

      (a) within one month of the date of that resignation or removal; or

      (b) if earlier, as soon as is required in order not to prevent compliance with regulation 12(5) and (6).

        (10) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(c), a person is not eligible under section 25 of the 1989 Act for appointment as a company auditor if section 34 of that Act applies to him (individuals retaining only authorisation under section 13(1) of the Companies Act 1967)[12].

        (11) In this regulation references to a person are references to an individual, a body corporate or a partnership.".

Amendment of regulation 12
     8.  - (1) Regulation 12 (requirement for annual declaration) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (2) - 

    (3) Omit paragraph (4).

    (4) In paragraph (5) - 

    (5) In each of paragraphs (6) and (7) - 

    (6) After paragraph (7) insert - 

Amendment of regulation 13
    
9.  - (1) Regulation 13 (expenses, commission etc. - principles) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) After paragraph (2) insert - 

    (3) After paragraph (3) insert - 

Amendment of regulation 14
     10.  - (1) Regulation 14 (charges etc. - permitted reductions in members' rights) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (5) - 

    (3) In paragraph (8) omit "costs or".

Amendment of regulation 15
    
11.  - (1) Regulation 15 (requirement for trustees or manager to satisfy certain conditions in relation to with-profits funds) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (3)(c) for "auditor or reporting accountant to certify that the requirements of regulations 13 and 14 have been complied with" substitute - 

    (3) In paragraph (4) - 

Amendment of regulation 17
    
12.  - (1) Regulation 17 (restrictions on contributions) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1) for "the rules of a stakeholder pension scheme" substitute "the scheme instruments".

    (3) After paragraph (4) insert - 

Amendment of regulation 18
     13.  - (1) Regulation 18 (disclosure of information to members) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) For paragraph (2) substitute - 

    (3) In paragraph (3) - 

    (4) After paragraph (3) insert - 

    (5) In paragraph (4) - 

    (6) After paragraph (4) insert - 

    (7) In paragraph (5) - 

    (8) After paragraph (5) insert - 

        " (5A) The information mentioned in paragraph (5) does not include - 

      (a) the amount of any reduction or deduction under any of paragraphs (2) to (4) of regulation 14;

      (b) the amount of any reduction under regulation 14(5)(c).".

    (9) After paragraph (10) insert - 

        " (11) In this regulation "annual percentage rate" means the daily percentage rate at which deductions were made under regulation 14(2), (3) or (4) (being no greater than 1/365 per cent. of the value of the fund, share or rights in the with-profits fund respectively from which they were made) multiplied by 365.".

Amendment of regulation 22
     14.  - (1) Regulation 22 (exemption from employer access and consultation requirements) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (2)(a) for "(other than any employee who has not attained the age of 18)" substitute - 

    (3) In paragraph (4) - 

    (4) After paragraph (4) insert - 

    (5) In each of paragraphs (5) and (6) for "the purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4)" substitute "the purposes of paragraphs (3) to (4B)".

    (6) For paragraph (8) substitute - 

    (7) In paragraph (9)(b) - 

Amendment of regulation 23
    
15.  - (1) Regulation 23 (exceptions to definition of "relevant employees") shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1) - 

    (3) After paragraph (2) insert - 

Amendment of regulation 24
     16.  - (1) Regulation 24 (payroll deduction of contributions) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1) - 

    (3) In paragraph (2) - 

    (4) After paragraph (2) insert - 

    (5) For paragraph (3) substitute - 

    (6) After paragraph (5) insert - 

Amendment of regulation 25
    
17.  - (1) Regulation 25 (disclosure of information to relevant employees: first-time deduction requests) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In paragraph (1) for "to make or vary (but not cease)" substitute "to make (but not vary or cease)".

    (3) In paragraph (2) - 

Amendment of Schedule 2
    
18.  - (1) Schedule 2 (application of other regulations to stakeholder pension schemes) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) For "The Occupational Pension Schemes (Requirement to obtain Audited Accounts or a Statement from the Auditor) Regulations 1996" substitute - 

    (3) In the entry relating to those Regulations in the right-hand column of the Schedule, before "paragraph 5" insert "regulations 2(1)(b) and 4 and".

Transitional provision
     19. Where, prior to the coming into force of these Regulations, the reporting accountant appointed for the purposes of regulation 11 has been removed or has resigned or died, regulation 11(8) shall, for the purposes of appointing the next reporting accountant after him for the purposes of regulation 11, continue to have effect as in force immediately prior to the coming into force of these Regulations.



Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Social Security.


Jeff Rooker
Minister of State, Department of Social Security

13th March 2001



NOTE AS TO EARLIER COMMENCEMENT ORDERS

(This note is not part of the Regulations)


These Regulations are the second set of amendments to the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000 ("the principal Regulations"). The principal Regulations are amended to do (among other things) the following - 

     -  to provide that those who are not employees of the employer on the date of commencement of consultation do not have to be consulted; and to bring regulation 23 into force from the same date (6th April 2001) as section 3 (partially) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999. Section 3 is being partially commenced earlier than 8th October 2001 to allow valid consultation and designation for the purposes of section 3 prior to 8th October 2001; (amendments to regulations 1 and 23)

     -  to make different provision as to means of payment of contributions; (new regulations 3(5B) and 17(5))

     -  to include the provisions required by regulation 6 among the provisions which the trust instruments are not allowed to enable to be modified or disapplied; (amendment to regulation 4(4))

     -  to expand on the requirements relating to investments and investment options; and to clarify existing provisions; (amendments to regulation 10)

     -  to clarify that a reporting accountant must be appointed for a scheme established under a trust; to impose additional requirements for eligibility for appointment as the reporting accountant; to provide for what should happen if he is or becomes ineligible; to provide that a partnership can be a reporting accountant (new regulation 11(11)); to provide that time limits for appointment of a replacement reporting accountant are to be shortened in certain cases; (new regulation 12(8) and amendments to regulation 11)

     -  to change the required content of the trustees' or manager's annual declaration under regulation 12, and of the statements to be obtained from the reporting accountant; and to make related changes; (amendments to regulations 12 and 15)

     -  to provide for an additional ground of refusal of contributions; (new regulation 17(6))

     -  to allow different statement years under regulation 18 to be chosen for different persons; to revise the existing provisions as to the start date for a statement year. All statement year start dates already chosen will be overridden by the amendments to regulation 18. The earliest start date in all cases will be 6th April 2001. In some cases, the start date will automatically be 6th April 2001, in others, a fresh choice will have to be made (within new time limits); (amendments to regulation 18)

     -  to change and clarify what information is to be provided under regulation 18; (new regulation 18(5A) and (11) and amendments to regulation 18(5))

     -  in relation to the exemptions in regulation 22, to clarify how paragraphs (2) and (8) work in relation to each other; to except employees under 18 from paragraph (8); to clarify "arrangement" in paragraph (4)(a) (see new paragraph (4A)); to remove any overlap between paragraph (4)(a) and (b); to avoid contributions being regarded as not made in accordance with paragraph (3) merely because the employee makes contributions at a higher rate than the employer (the employer must make contributions at at least the rate specified in respect of contributions to be made by the employee, rather than at the actual rate at which the employee is paying); to require paragraph (2)(b) (among other things) to be satisfied for the paragraph (8) exemption to apply; to make paragraph (8) workable in cases where contributions made by the employer are subject to the condition that the employee make contributions to the same scheme at a specified rate (new paragraphs (8)(b) to (8C));

     -  to prescribe additional exceptions to the definition of "relevant employees"; (amendments to regulation 23)

     -  to change and clarify provisions governing deductions of contributions from remuneration, including providing for additional grounds of non-compliance with requests as to such deductions; (amendments to regulations 24 and 25)

     -  to ensure that there remains a time limit for appointment of a replacement reporting accountant in relation to removal, resignation or death with occur prior to the amendment of regulation 11(8) (transitional provision).


Notes:

[1] 1995 c.26.back

[2] Section 8(1) is cited for the meaning given to "prescribed".back

[3] 1999 c.30.back

[4] See section 120 of the Pensions Act 1995.back

[5] S.I. 2000/1403, amended by S.I. 2001/104.back

[6] Not a statutory instrument. Published by the Financial Services Authority, London, 1997. Release 199, as amended by Release 203. The regulations form part of the Financial Services Authority Rulebook, and can be obtained, together with amendments, from the Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS. They are also available on the internet at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/rules/index-1999.html (for Release 199) and at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/rules/index-2000.html (for Release 203). They are made under sections 52, 81, 85, 86(3), 87(4) and (5), 88(10) and 90 of the Financial Services Act 1986 (c.60). As to instruments under that Act, see paragraphs 4 to 9 of Schedule 9 to that Act. Paragraph 7 of that Schedule was amended by S.I. 1996/2827.back

[7] Not a statutory instrument. Published by the Financial Services Authority, London, 1997. Release 200, as amended by Releases 204 and 211. The regulations form part of the Financial Services Authority Rulebook, and can be obtained, together with amendments, from the Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS. They are also available on the internet at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/rules/index-1999.html (for Release 200) and at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/rules/index-2000.html (for Releases 204 and 211). They are made under regulation 6 of the Open-Ended Investment Companies (Investment Companies with Variable Capital) Regulations 1996, S.I. 1996/2827 (and under Northern Ireland instrument S.R. 1997/251), to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.back

[8] Paragraphs (5A) and (11) were inserted by S.I. 2001/104.back

[9] Regulation 4 was amended by S.I. 2001/104.back

[10] 1982 c.50.back

[11] 1989 c.40.back

[12] Section 13(1) was repealed by section 29 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Companies Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1985 (c.9), and was replaced by section 389(2) of the Companies Act 1985 (c.6) (repealed by section 212 of, and Schedule 24 to, the Companies Act 1989). (See, in addition to section 34 of the Companies Act 1989, section 31 of that Act, and in particular section 31(2) which covers cases previously covered by section 389(2) of the Companies Act 1985.)back

[13] S.I. 1996/1537, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.back

[14] Section 159 was amended by section 122 of, and paragraph 41 of Schedule 3 to, the Pensions Act 1995 (c.26) which inserted subsections (4A) and (4B).back

[15] See the Occupational Pension Schemes (Assignment, Forfeiture, Bankruptcy etc.) Regulations 1997, S.I. 1997/785, amended by S.I. 1999/1849. Sections 91 to 93 were amended by section 84(1) of, and paragraphs 57 to 59 of Schedule 12 to, the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30). Section 94 was amended by section 18 of, and paragraph 17 of Schedule 2 to, that Act.back

[16] S.I. 1997/785, amended by S.I. 1999/1849.back

[17] Section 124 was amended by sections 18 and 84 of, and paragraph 18 of Schedule 2 and paragraph 61 of Schedule 12 to, the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30), and by section 56 of, and paragraph 8(3) of Schedule 5 to, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c.19).back

[18] Section 97 was amended by section 173 of, and paragraph 4 of Schedule 6 to, the Pensions Act 1995 (c.26) and by section 56 of, and paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 5 to, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c.19).back

[19] Section 124 was amended by sections 18 and 84 of, and paragraph 18 of Schedule 2 and paragraph 61 of Schedule 12 to, the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30), and by section 56 of, and paragraph 8(3) of Schedule 5 to, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c.19).back

[20] S.I. 1996/1975, amended by S.I.'s 1997/786, 1997/3038 and 2000/833.back



ISBN 0 11 028961 7


 

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