Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Administration) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 (“the Scheme Administration Regulations”), the Personal Pension Schemes (Payments by Employers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (“the Payments by Employers Regulations”), the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (“the Automatic Enrolment Regulations”) and the Employers’ Duties (Registration and Compliance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (“the Registration and Compliance Regulations”).

Regulation 2 of these Regulations amends regulation 16 of the Scheme Administration Regulations which specifies the time limit within which an employer must pay contributions deducted from the member’s earnings into an occupational pension scheme. The amendment applies a different time limit in respect of contributions deducted in the first 3 months of membership where these are paid into a scheme being used to fulfil automatic enrolment duties. Regulation 3 of these Regulations makes similar changes to regulation 5 of the Payments by Employers Regulations in relation to personal pension schemes.

Regulation 4 of these Regulations amends the Automatic Enrolment Regulations as follows—

• paragraph (2) substitutes regulation 4 which inserts a definition of pay reference period for the purposes of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (“the 2008 Act”). It provides an alternative definition of pay reference period for assessment purposes allowing the length of a pay reference period to be determined by reference to the usual interval between payments of a person’s wages. In such cases, the pay reference period will begin on the first day of a tax month (where a person is paid monthly or in a multiple of months) or tax week (where a person is paid weekly or in a multiple of weeks);

• paragraph (3) substitutes regulation 5 which relates to pay reference periods for the purposes of determining whether an occupational money purchase scheme or personal pension scheme meets the quality requirement. It sets out that the pay reference period may be a year, ending the day before an anniversary of the employer’s staging date, or the same length as the period by reference to which a person is paid commencing on the first day of that period, or the period equal to the interval between payments of a person’s wages, commencing on the first day of a tax week or tax month (depending on the basis of pay). It also makes provision in respect of the first and last pay reference periods in respect of a person;

• paragraph (4) extends from one month to 6 weeks the period within which an employer under a duty to enrol a person into a scheme (pursuant to obligations in the 2008 Act) must achieve active membership for that person, and paragraph (5) makes minor amendments;

• paragraph (6) makes it clear that an opt out notice is valid if it includes the information for workers set out in Schedule 1 and certain statements. This is in case the amendment casts doubt on the validity of an opt out notice served prior to this amendment. Opt out notices served prior to the coming into operation of paragraph (6) and accepted as valid by the employer are deemed to be valid;

• paragraph (7) makes provision to allow for test schemes which revalue by the average salary method;

• paragraph (8) substitutes regulation 38 to ensure that, for the purposes of determinations made under section 22 of the 2008 Act, the appropriate age for a member whose pensionable age is over 65 is that member’s pensionable age;

• paragraph (9) substitutes regulation 39A, to clarify the requirements to be met in relation to the lump sum for the provision of benefits to a member under a test scheme. It makes clear that there are three different types of test scheme under that regulation and ensures that there is consistency across the test schemes and that average salary lump sum test schemes include revaluation in service and deferment at a consistent level;

• paragraph (10) makes consequential amendments to regulation 50 to ensure that the due date for the purposes of the Pensions Regulator issuing unpaid contributions notices takes account of the changes made to the Scheme Administration Regulations and the Payments by Employers Regulations (regulations 2 and 3).

Regulation 5 of these Regulations amends regulations 3 and 4 of the Registration and Compliance Regulations, extending the deadlines for information to be provided to the Pensions Regulator when duties first apply to an employer or on re-registration of information.

Regulation 6 of these Regulations makes consequential revocations.

As these Regulations, in so far as they are made under the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain, the requirement to consult under Article 117(1) of that Order does not apply by virtue of paragraph (2)(e) of that Article.