8/10/07

QUESTIONING MINISTER FOR PENSIONS REFORM

Bournemouth West M.P., Sir John Butterfill, questioned Mike O’Brien, M.P., the Minister for Pensions Reform, in the House of Commons on Monday 8th October, 2007.

Sir John is concerned about the problem in recruiting trustees for the administration of private pensions.  He feels that it is partly due to the requirements put on pension funds by the regulator.  For example, there is now a requirement for trustees to become professionally qualified.

Sir John is Chairman of Trustees of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund and said that all the Trustees had taken the Pensions Management Institute examinations.  However, he told the Minister that it was proving increasingly difficult for other schemes to recruit people to become trustees, given both the potential liabilities that they face and the requirement for additional learning.  Previously, it had been considered sufficient for them to take appropriate professional advice.

The Minister welcomed the point that Sir John had made.  He replied that he had, in fact, met the regulator that morning and discussed Sir John’s point with the Chairman and Chief Executive.  He told Sir John that there was concern about the level of qualifications that some trustees were obliged to achieve.  As part of the deregulatory review, he wished to look at the issue.  The Minister said he was not sure that the statute was the problem and felt that it was more the guidance that was given.  As a result of the review, he hoped that it would be possible to make it clear that the level of competence required of trustees was a reasonable knowledge, together with common sense, and that this would not deter large numbers of people from becoming trustees at a time when they were needed.