Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effect of section 75 rules on debt calculations for multi-Employer Pension Schemes on directors of plumbing companies.

There are nearly 1,000 multi-employer schemes. The legislation requiring employers to pay debts applies to all. This legislation helps ensure employees receive the pension they have been promised and worked for.

The Green Paper “Protecting Defined Benefit Pensions” specifically discussed Multi Employer Schemes. The government looked closely at evidence submitted from employers and representatives from the Plumbing & Mechanical Services (UK) Industry Pension Scheme regarding this legislation. After careful consideration the government concluded that it cannot consider amending an important area of legislation further, which would disadvantage scheme members, just to address one particular scheme’s problems.

Summaries of the responses to the Green Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/defined-benefit-pension-schemes-security-and-sustainability