The Pension Protection Fund (Provision of Information) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations make provision relating to the information which the Board of the Pension Protection Fund (“the Board”), the members and beneficiaries of certain occupational pension schemes and the trustees or managers of such schemes are required to provide where compensation is, or may become, payable by the Board. The Board is established by section 107 of the Pensions Act 2004 to provide compensation for members of certain occupational pension schemes in the event of the insolvency of the scheme’s sponsoring employer and where the pension scheme is underfunded at a certain level.

Regulation 1 provides for citation and commencement and regulation 2 provides for interpretation.

Regulation 3 makes provision as to the information to be provided by the Board to insolvency practitioners in relation to insolvent employers who sponsored an occupational pension scheme, trustees or managers of such schemes where an insolvency event has occurred in relation to the sponsoring employer, such employers and the members and beneficiaries of such schemes.

Regulation 4 makes provision as to the information to be provided by the trustees or managers of such schemes to the Board and to members and beneficiaries of such schemes.

Regulation 5 makes provision as to the information to be provided by members and beneficiaries of such schemes to the Board.

Regulation 6 makes provision as to the method of providing information and as to certain details to be included whenever information is provided by the Board to members or beneficiaries, or by members or beneficiaries to the Board.

The Pensions (2005 Order) (Commencement No. 1 and Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 48 (C. 5)) provides for the coming into operation of Articles 2(5)(a), 172 and 185(1) on 25th February 2005 for the purpose of authorising the making of regulations and on 6th April 2005 for all other purposes.

As these Regulations are made before the end of the period of six months beginning with the coming into operation of the provisions of the Order by virtue of which they are made, the requirement to consult under Article 289(1) of the Order does not apply by virtue of paragraph (2)(c) of that Article.