Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the efficiency of the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies in (a) identifying pensioners as they become eligible for payments and (b) ensuring that payments are processed and triggered for payment on the due date.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Departmental preparations for the reform of non-departmental public bodies take account of the Checklist for Departments published by the Cabinet Office, which includes advice on pensions.
In the past five years, the Department has reformed three bodies which employed staff.
In two cases, staff pensions were provided by the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has established procedures in place for identifying pensioners as they become eligible, and ensuring that payments are processed on time:
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 31 July 2012 and employed 7,652 full time equivalent staff, all of whom were civil servants;
The Independent Living Fund legally closed on 30 June 2015, however a small residual team of 15 staff was retained until 30 September to deal with any residual closure issues. It had previously employed 99.5 full time equivalent staff.
In April 2015, the Remploy business was sold to a new company outside Government control. The majority of its employees transferred to that company and left the Remploy Pension Scheme at the time. The pension scheme continues to be managed by its trustees and the scheme administrators, who remain responsible for identifying pensioners and ensuring they are paid appropriately once they become eligible. At 1 January 2016, the Remploy Pension Scheme had approximately 18,000 members, of whom over 9,500 were deferred members and thus potential future pensioners. From 1 April 2016, my Department is now the Principal Employer for this scheme.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of future pensioners who will be eligible for payments by the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Departmental preparations for the reform of non-departmental public bodies take account of the Checklist for Departments published by the Cabinet Office, which includes advice on pensions.
In the past five years, the Department has reformed three bodies which employed staff.
In two cases, staff pensions were provided by the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has established procedures in place for identifying pensioners as they become eligible, and ensuring that payments are processed on time:
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was abolished on 31 July 2012 and employed 7,652 full time equivalent staff, all of whom were civil servants;
The Independent Living Fund legally closed on 30 June 2015, however a small residual team of 15 staff was retained until 30 September to deal with any residual closure issues. It had previously employed 99.5 full time equivalent staff.
In April 2015, the Remploy business was sold to a new company outside Government control. The majority of its employees transferred to that company and left the Remploy Pension Scheme at the time. The pension scheme continues to be managed by its trustees and the scheme administrators, who remain responsible for identifying pensioners and ensuring they are paid appropriately once they become eligible. At 1 January 2016, the Remploy Pension Scheme had approximately 18,000 members, of whom over 9,500 were deferred members and thus potential future pensioners. From 1 April 2016, my Department is now the Principal Employer for this scheme.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the efficiency of the National Consumer Council pension scheme in discharging its duty to ensure payment to new pensioners on attainment of scheme payment eligibility.
Answered by Nick Boles
The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP's performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.
Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the transparency of contact details for the National Consumer Council pension scheme.
Answered by Nick Boles
The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP's performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.
Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will investigate the fitness for purpose of the members' payments division of the National Consumer Council pension scheme.
Answered by Nick Boles
The National Consumer Council participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is managed by the Cabinet Office. Administration of the PCSPS is contracted out to MyCSP Ltd. MyCSP's performance in administering the PCSPS is monitored by the Supplier Management team within Civil Service Pensions in the Cabinet Office; the performance of MyCSP is also reported to the Civil Service Pensions Board on a regular basis, which is independent of the Cabinet Office team.
Contact details for MyCSP are available from the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/contact-us/.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what arrangements are in place to ensure that the pension schemes of abolished non-departmental public bodies which lay within his Department's remit efficiently discharge their liabilities to pensioners.
Answered by Nick Boles
The majority of the Department’s non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) contribute into existing multi-employer schemes, these include the PCSPS and Research Council Pension Scheme. Individuals also have the option to contribute to a partnership pension scheme operated by selected pension companies. In both these cases the responsibility to make payments to pensioners lies with the scheme, and not with the individual employer.
Where an individual NDPB operating its own scheme was to be abolished, as part of that process a decision would be made whether it was appropriate to transfer the liability to the Department or to transfer that scheme to the management of the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will meet representatives of the Association of British Travel Agents and consumer groups to discuss changes to rules applying to penalty-free cancellation during periods of regional airstrikes by British forces.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issues travel advice to help British nationals make their own informed decisions about foreign travel. We keep our travel advice under constant review and will update it according to any changes in our assessment of the threat to British nationals around the world. Although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintains a dialogue with Association of British Travel Agents about how the travel advice affects their members’ business, it is not the role of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to intervene in the regulation of the market by discussing changes to the rules applying to penalty-free cancellation.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on travellers with bookings to (a) Sharm el Sheikh and (b) other destinations in the Middle East of the period within which the right to penalty-free cancellation can be ascertained being within 14 days of travel.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
On 4 November 2015, we amended our Travel Advice to advise against all but essential travel by air to Sharm el-Sheikh. We have not changed our Travel Advice for the resort itself.
The FCO Travel Advice, available at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, provides objective information and advice to help individuals make better-informed decisions about their travel. The Egypt page has been regularly updated to reflect developing events since the crash of the Russian airliner on 31 October. We regularly review our Travel Advice and all changes are made after careful analysis. Our only consideration is the safety of British Nationals.
The FCO is working with DfT and Egyptian counterparts to put in place permanent and sustainable measures to allow British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh to resume as soon as possible.
Refunds and cancellation penalties are a matter for the airlines. We are liaising closely with airlines to share information about the progress of our discussions with Egypt.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will extend the validity period of travel advice applying to Sharm el Sheikh to provide certainty on the right to penalty-free cancellation (a) six weeks and (b) four weeks prior to departure.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
On 4 November 2015, we amended our Travel Advice to advise against all but essential travel by air to Sharm el-Sheikh. We have not changed our Travel Advice for the resort itself.
The FCO Travel Advice, available at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, provides objective information and advice to help individuals make better-informed decisions about their travel. The Egypt page has been regularly updated to reflect developing events since the crash of the Russian airliner on 31 October. We regularly review our Travel Advice and all changes are made after careful analysis. Our only consideration is the safety of British Nationals.
The FCO is working with DfT and Egyptian counterparts to put in place permanent and sustainable measures to allow British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh to resume as soon as possible.
Refunds and cancellation penalties are a matter for the airlines. We are liaising closely with airlines to share information about the progress of our discussions with Egypt.
Asked by: Mike Weir (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to issue revised travel advice for visitors from the UK with bookings for package holidays in Egypt departing in the next six weeks which use (a) the airport and (b) the resort at Sharm el Sheikh.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
On 4 November 2015, we amended our Travel Advice to advise against all but essential travel by air to Sharm el-Sheikh. We have not changed our Travel Advice for the resort itself.
The FCO Travel Advice, available at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, provides objective information and advice to help individuals make better-informed decisions about their travel. The Egypt page has been regularly updated to reflect developing events since the crash of the Russian airliner on 31 October. We regularly review our Travel Advice and all changes are made after careful analysis. Our only consideration is the safety of British Nationals.
The FCO is working with DfT and Egyptian counterparts to put in place permanent and sustainable measures to allow British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh to resume as soon as possible.
Refunds and cancellation penalties are a matter for the airlines. We are liaising closely with airlines to share information about the progress of our discussions with Egypt.