These Regulations further amend the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (“the 2005 Regulations”).

Regulation 2 substitutes the Tables in regulations 5 and 6 of the 2005 Regulations to specify the new figures to be used in calculating the rate at which the general levy is payable for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2008 and subsequent financial years. The purpose of the general levy is to meet the expenditure mentioned in section 170(1) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993. Specified occupational and personal pension schemes pay the general levy (see regulation 2 of the 2005 Regulations).

The figures used to calculate the rate of the general levy have increased to reflect higher expenditure by the Pensions Regulator, the Pensions Advisory Service and the Pensions Ombudsman, and the recovery of a £20∙8 million deficit from previous years.